Verse 51
Tao gives all things life
Te gives them fulfilment
Nature is what shapes them
Living is what brings them to completion
Every creature honours Tao and worships Te
not by force
but through its own living and breathing
Though Tao gives life to all things
Te is what cultivates them
Te is that magic power that
raises and rears them
completes and prepares them
comforts and protects them
To create without owning
To give without expecting
To fill without claiming
This is the profound action of Tao
The highest expression of Te
Te gives them fulfilment
Nature is what shapes them
Living is what brings them to completion
Every creature honours Tao and worships Te
not by force
but through its own living and breathing
Though Tao gives life to all things
Te is what cultivates them
Te is that magic power that
raises and rears them
completes and prepares them
comforts and protects them
To create without owning
To give without expecting
To fill without claiming
This is the profound action of Tao
The highest expression of Te
