Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
TAO is eternal but is unnamable. Its simplicity, though considered as of the humblest, is most independent.
[paragraph continues] Nothing in the world is able to bring it into subjection. If princes and kings retain simplicity heaven and earth are harmoniously unified and, everywhere drop the sweet dew of their favor naturally and evenly.
As soon as things are given names, greed and grasping arise and, unless one understands when to stop, there will be no satisfying the desires. To know when to be satisfied and to restrain desire, is to know the secret of longevity. This is the principal of TAO. It resembles the great rivers that flow into the seas, but which have their origin in the little streams of the valleys.