All under heaven know beauty as beauty. Praising one's own virtues, thus making them prominent. This is already evil; there is danger and peril. All know goodness as goodness, there are achievements and reputation. This is already not good — what people contend for. Therefore, being and non-being give rise to each other; difficulty and ease complete each other; long and short compare with each other; high and low incline toward each other; tones and sounds harmonize with each other; front and back follow one another. Therefore, the sage deals with affairs through non-action, governing by the Dao. He practices teaching without words, guiding and instructing by personal example. All things arise, each moving of its own accord, yet he does not refuse them. He brings forth without claiming ownership; the primordial qi gives birth to all things but does not claim them. He acts without reliance — what the Dao accomplishes is done without expecting reward. He achieves success but does not dwell in it; when the task is accomplished, he retreats and does not remain in his position. It is precisely because he does not dwell that virtue and merit remain constant and do not leave the person. The first six statements on high and low, long and short show that when the ruler opens one source, a hundred variations arise below — and all these changes inevitably lead to unrest. This teaching on the sage's way of governing runs through the entire Tao Te Ching, from this chapter to its final words.