Tao is the uncarved block.
Timeless, undefined, infinitesimally subtle.
None is its master.
If lords and princes observed it,
the ten thousand things would arrive as guests to the table.
Heaven and earth would rejoice,
and sweet nectar would fall,
though none under heaven had decreed it.
When the whole is divided, the parts are named.
There are already too many names.
It is time to stop.
Knowing when to stop avoids exhaustion.
Tao in the world is like
stream flowing to river flowing to sea.