Verse 35

Hold on to the Great Image
and all under heaven will approach you.
Coming to you and not being harmed,
they will find rest, peace, and security.

A passing guest will pause at the sound of music
and the smell of fancy food.
By comparison the Tao is mild and flavourless.

It is not solid enough to be seen,
nor loud enough to be heard.
Yet, it lasts forever.

Verse 36

That which is to be shrunk must first be stretched out.
That which is to be weakened must first be strengthened.

That which is to be cast down must first be raised up.
That which is to be taken must first be given.

There is wisdom in dimming your light.
For the soft and gentle will overcome the hard and powerful.

Fish are best left in deep waters.
And, weapons are best kept out of sight.

Verse 37

The Tao never strives, yet nothing is left undone.

If leaders were able to adhere to it
the ten thousand things
would develop of their own accord.

If after they have developed
they experience desires to strive,
they can bury those desires
under the nameless Uncarved Block.

The nameless Uncarved Block can protect against desire.
When desires are restrained there will be peace,
and then all under heaven will be at rest.

Verse 38

A person of high virtue is not conscious of virtue
and therefore possesses Virtue.
A person of little virtue tries to be virtuous and therefore lacks Virtue.

A person of high virtue does not make a fuss and is not seen.
A person of little virtue always makes a fuss and is always seen.

A truly good person functions without ulterior motive.
A moralist acts out of private desires.
A ritualist acts and, when no one responds, rolls up a sleeve and marches.

When we lose the Tao, we turn to Virtue.
When we lose Virtue, we turn to kindness.
When we lose kindness, we turn to morality.
When we lose morality, we turn to ritual.

Ritual is the mere husk of good faith
and loyalty and the beginning of disorder.
Knowledge of what is to come may be a flower of the Tao,
but it is the beginning of folly.

Hence, the well-formed person relies
on what is solid and not on what is flimsy,
on the fruit and not the flower.
Therefore, such a person lets go of that without
and is content with this within.