Chapter 32

The Tao, seen as unchanging, has no name.

Though in its primal simplicity it seems small, no one in the world can treat one who embodies it as a subordinate. If a prince or king could hold fast to it, all things would submit to him of their own accord.

Heaven and Earth would come together to send down sweet dew, which, without anyone directing it, would fall evenly everywhere on its own.

Once it begins to act, it has a name. Once it has a name, people can know where to stop. Knowing where to stop, they can avoid danger.

The Tao is to the world what the great rivers and seas are to the streams flowing down from the valleys.