Chapter 2. Becoming perfect
When the world speaks of the beauty of beauty then ugliness is defined in the same.
When good is seen as good then evil is also immediately clear.
Thus being and unbeing both awaken each other; same as difficult and easy, distant and near, high and low, sounding and tinkling, head of the troop and the follower.
A wise one deals only with what is unprejudiced.
He teaches without using words; he works effortlessly, he produces without owning; he acts without seeking the fruits of labor; he finishes his tasks without borrowing; and as he does not claim anything to be his, it cannot be said that he would ever lose anything.
Own translation from 1925 Finnish translation by Pekka Ervast (ISBN 951-8995-01-X) with kind permission of Ruusu-Ristin Kirjallisuusseura ry.