Literature

Tao Te Ching, 7 (Le Guin translation):
Dim Brightness

Heaven will last,
earth will endure.
How can they last so long?
They don't exist for themselves
And so can go on and on.

So wise souls 
leaving self behind
move forward,
and setting self aside
stay centered.
Why let the self go?
To keep what the soul needs.

Tao Te Ching, 8: Easy by nature
(Le Guin translation)

True goodness
is like water.
Water’s good
for everything.
It doesn’t compete.
It goes right
to the low loathsome places,
and so finds the way.
For a house,
the good thing is level ground.
In thinking,
depth is good.
The good of giving is magnanimity;
of speaking, honesty;
of government, order.
The good of work is skill,
and of action, timing.
No competition,
so no blame.