From the Daodejing:
Of old, among those that attained the One:
Heaven attained the One and thereby became clear.
Earth attained the One and thereby became quiet.
Spirits attained the One and thereby became numinous.
Valleys attained the One and thereby become full,
All beings attained the One and thereby they live.
Lords and kings attained the One and thereby became
The upright ones of the empire
This came about through the One.
Without what allows it to be clear,
Heaven might have been sundered.
Without what allow it to be settled,
Earth might have been shaken.
Without what causes them to be numinous,
spirits might have ceased.
Without what allows them to be full,
The valleys might have been depleted.
Without what allows them to live,
All beings might have perished.
Without what allows them to be honorable and exalted,
lords and kings might have fallen.
Therefore what is honored is rooted in the humble;
And what is exalted is founded in the lowly.
This is why lords and kings refer to themselves
as the orphaned, the lonely ones, the unfortunate.
Is this not taking humility as the root? Is it not?
Therefore if you approach a chariot and enumerate its parts,
You still have no chariot.
Seek neither to be rare like jade nor common like stone.
They Way gives birth to the One
The One gives birth to two;
Two give birth to three;
And three give birth to all things.
All beings support the yin and embrace the yang;
And through the blending of qi they create harmony.
What people hate is to be orphaned, lonely, unfortunate,
Yet kings and lords call themselves by these names.
Therefore things may gain by losing, and lose by gaining
What others teach, I also teach:
The violent do not attain a natural death.
This I take as the father of my teaching.
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