Laozi
知者不言，言者不知。 塞其兑，閉其門，挫其銳，解其分，和其光，同其塵，是謂玄同。 故不可得而親，不可得而踈； 不可得而利，不可得而害； 不可得而貴，不可得而賤。 故為天下貴。
James Legge
He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.
He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things; he will attemper his brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others). This is called ‘the Mysterious Agreement.’
(Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; he is beyond all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or meanness:—he is the noblest man under heaven.
Victor H. Mair
One who knows does not speak; One who speaks does not know. He Stopples the openings of his heart, Closes his doors, Diffuses the light, Mingles with the dust, Files away his sharp points, Unravels his tangles. This is called “mysterious identity.” Therefore, Neither can one attain intimacy with him, Nor can one remain distant from him; Neither can one profit from him, Nor can one be harmed by him; Neither can one achieve honor through him, Nor can one be debased by him. Therefore, He is esteemed by all under heaven.
C. Spurgeon Medhurst
Who knows does not speak; who speaks does not know. [^1]
Close the doors of the senses; blunt the sharp; unravel the confused; harmonise the dazzling; become one with the all. This is the Mystery of Unity. [^2] There will then neither be love nor hate; profit nor loss; favor nor disgrace. It follows that in the universe there is nothing nobler. [^3]
“The profoundest truths of spiritual experience are those which are not intellectually ascertained but spiritually discerned, which are not taught to us but revealed in us; and these never can be adequately put into words. They defy definition; they transcend expression. The highest experiences even of earthly love and hope and joy cannot be translated into terms of common speech. As there is a life which can be expressed only in terms of music, and another which is expressible only in terms of art, so there is a life which is truly inexpressible. All that he who has obtained even a glimpse of this realm can hope to do is to afford a glimpse to others, by recalling a like experience in their life, ‘comparing spiritual things with spiritual.‘”—Lyman Abbott, D. D.
[^1] “The moment a man can really do his work he becomes speechless about it.”—Sesame and Lilies, by John Ruskin, p. 149.
”But why should we expound our own views uncalled for? The danger of self-assertion is there.” The Science of the Emotions by Bhagavan Das., p. 177.
[^2] “Blunt your own sharp points and you will be able to unravel the confusion of others; soften your own glare, and you will be able to put yourself on a level with others; then, when there is no difference between yourself and others, when you are one with the world, you will have attained to spiritual experiences which are inexpressible. Hence it is called the mystery of unity.”—Wu-ch’eng. Cf. Matt. vii, 1-5.
[^3] Chaps. 4 and 52.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Who knows doesn’t talk. Who talks doesn’t know. Closing the openings, shutting doors,
blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, be one with the dust of the way. So you come to the deep sameness.
Then you can’t be controlled by love or by rejection. You can’t be controlled by profit or by loss. You can’t be controlled by praise or by humiliation. Then you have honor under heaven.