39

"Of old there were certain things that realized oneness: The heavens in realizing oneness became clear; The earth in realizing oneness became stable; The numinous in realizing oneness became animated; The river valleys in realizing oneness became full; The lords and kings in realizing oneness brought proper order to the world. Following this line of thinking, We could say that if the heavens had not become clear They may well have fallen to pieces; We could say that if the earth had not become stable It may well have collapsed; We could say that if the numinous had not become animated It may well have faded away; We could say that if the river valleys had not become full They may well have dried up; We could say that if the lords and kings had not brought proper order to the world They may well have stumbled and fallen from power. Thus for something to be noble it must take the humble as its root; For something to be high it must take the low as its foundation. It is for this reason that the lords and kings use “friendless,” “unworthy,” and “inept” as terms to refer to themselves. This is a clear case of taking the humble as the root, is it not? The highest renown is to be without renown. They do not want to be precious like jade, But common like stone."