The Way gives life to all things.
Virtue nurtures them.
Matter gives them form.
Circumstance brings them to completion.

Thus, all things revere the Way
and honor virtue.
Yet this reverence, this honor,
does not arise from command,
but flows of itself, naturally.

For the Way gives life,
and virtue nurtures them:
developing them, raising them,
steadying them, maturing them,
nourishing them, sheltering them.

It gives life, yet claims no ownership.
It acts, yet claims no credit.
It guides all things,
yet imposes no control.
This is called profound virtue.