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The superior person hears the Way, |
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and diligently practices it; |
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the average person hears the Way, |
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as if it exists, as if it does not; |
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the lower person hears the Way, |
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and laughs out loud. |
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Were it not laughed at, it could not be the Way. |
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Therefore there is a saying: |
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The clear Way seems obscure; |
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the advancing Way seems retreating; |
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the level Way seems heaped; |
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highest virtue is like a valley. |
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Venus seems disgraced; |
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vast virtue seems insufficient; |
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established virtue seems stealthy; |
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true nature seems altered; |
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the great square has no corners; |
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the great vessel is completed late; |
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the great sound is scarcely heard; |
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the great image has no form; |
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the Way is hidden and nameless. |
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Now, only the Way |
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is good at lending and completing. |