Laozi
天下皆知 美之為美， 斯惡已。 皆知善之 為善，斯不 善已。故有 無相生， 難易相成， 長短相較， 高下相傾， 音聲相和， 前後相隨。 是以聖人 處無為之 事，行不 言之教； 萬物作焉 而不辭， 生而不有。 為而不恃， 功成而弗 居。夫唯 弗居，是以 不去。
James Legge
All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.
So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other; that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.
Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.
All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show itself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership; they go through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for the results). The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an achievement).
The work is done, but how no one can see; ‘Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.
Victor H. Mair
When all under heaven know beauty as beauty, already there is ugliness; When everyone knows goodness, this accounts for badness. Being and nonbeing give birth to each other, Difficult and easy complete each other, Long and short form each other, High and low fulfill each other, Tone and voice harmonize with each other, Front and back follow each other - it is ever thus. For these reasons, The sage dwells in affairs of nonaction, carries out a doctrine without words. He lets the myriad creatures rise up but does not instigate them; He acts but does not presume; He completes his work but does not dwell on it. Now, Simply because he does not dwell on them, his accomplishments never leave him.
C. Spurgeon Medhurst
When every one in the world became conscious of the beauty of the beautiful it turned to evil; they became conscious of the goodness of the good and ceased to be good. [^1] Thus not-being and being arise the one from the other. So also do the difficult and the easy; the long and the short; the high and the low; sounds and voices; the preceding and the following.
Therefore [^2] the Holy man abides by non-attachment in his affairs, and practices a doctrine which cannot be imparted by speech. He attends to everything in its turn and declines nothing; produces without claiming; acts without dwelling thereon; completes his purposes without resting in them. Inasmuch as he does this he loses nothing. [^3]
A lotus pond will serve as an illustration of the difference between the holy sages and the younger members of the race. Covered with broad green leaves and brilliant blooms, it irresistibly attracts child-souls. They wade into the water, sink in the slime, and desperately struggle for the fragile petals; but the sages, their elder brethren, remain quietly on the bank, always alert to aid any who require assistance, content to admire, content to enjoy, without desiring to possess; yet actually owning the flowers more truly than the struggling crowd in the slimy pond. We are feeblest when we are grasping.
”The Master said, ‘Those who are without virtue, cannot abide long either in a condition of poverty and hardship, or in a condition of enjoyment.‘”—Confucian Analects.
”To dwell in the wide house of the world, to stand in the correct seat of the world, and to walk in the great path of the world; when he obtains his desire for office, to practice his principles for the good of the people; and when that desire is disappointed, to practice them alone; to be above the power of riches and honors to make dissipated, of poverty and mean condition to make swerve from principle, and of power and force to make bend—these characteristics constitute the great man.”—Mencius.
[^1] Cf. chap. 18 in loc.
[^2] Because the antimonies in the text are in the outer world of consciousness only, having no existence in the inner world of spirit, the Sage makes no distinction. All things are alike to him (cp. chap. 63). Says The Bhagavad Gita—“Thy business is with action only, never with its fruits; so let not the fruit of thy action be thy motive, nor be thou to inaction attached.”
[^3] “A pure, single, and stable spirit is not distracted though it be employed in many works; for that it doeth all to the honor of God, and being at rest within, seeketh not itself in anything it doth.”—Of the Imitation of Christ bk. 1, ch. 3.
”Balanced in pleasure and pain, self-reliant, to whom a lump of earth, a rock and gold are alike; the same to loved and unloved, firm, the same in censure and in praise, the same in honor and ignominy, the same to friend and fee, abandoning all undertakings—he is said to have crossed over the Gunas.” Bhagavad Gita—xiv. 24, 25.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Everybody on earth knowing that beauty is beautiful makes ugliness.
Everybody knowing that goodness is good makes wickedness.
For being and nonbeing arise together; hard and easy complete each other; high and low depend on each other; note and voice make the music together; before and after follow each other.
That’s why the wise soul does without doing, teaches without talking.
The things of this world exist, they are; you can’t refuse them.
To bear and not to own; to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go. for just letting it go is what makes it stay.
Note UKLG: One of the things I read in this chapter is that values and beliefs are not only culturally constructed but also part of the interplay of yin and yang, the great reversals that maintain the living balance of the world. To believe that our beliefs are permanent truths which encompass reality is a sad arrogance. To let go of that belief is to find safety.