Dao De Jing Book 1 verse 24 He who tiptoes cannot stand.
He who strides cannot walk.
He who shows himself is not conspicuous.
He who considers himself right is not illustrious.
He who brags will have no merit.
He who boasts will not endure.
From the point of view of the way,
These are excessive food and useless,
Excrescences,
As there are things that detest them.
He who has the way does not abide in them.
Verse 25 There is a thing confusedly formed,
Born before heaven and earth,
Silent and void.
It stands alone and does not change,
Goes round and does not weary.
It is capable of being the mother of the world.
I know not its name,
So I style it the way.
I give it the makeshift name of the great.
Being great,
It is further described as receding.
Receding,
It is described as far away.
Being far away,
It is described as turning back.
Hence,
The way is great,
Heaven is great,
Earth is great,
And the king is also great.
Within the realm there are four things that are great,
And the king counts as one.
Man models himself on earth,
Earth on heaven,
Heaven on the way,
And the way on that which is naturally so.