【美】- 天下人都知道美之所以为美，丑的观念自然就形成了。
【善】- 天下人都知道善之所以为善，恶的观念自然就形成了。
事物相对而生
有和无，是互相比较而生的；
难和易，是互相比较而成的；
长和短，是互相比较而显的；
高和下，是互相比较而存的；
音和声，是互相对应而和的；
前和后，是互相对应为序的；
言传不如身教
圣人效法自然法则，处无为之事，行不言之教。天地万物不辞辛劳地生长，却不把孕育的成果据为己有，从不自恃有恩而居功自傲。正是大自然的无私奉献，人们才不会忘却天地的伟大和永恒。
《道德经》第二章原文
天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已，皆知善之为善，斯不善已。
故有无相生，难易相成，长短相形，高下相倾，音声相和，前后相随。
是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教。万物作焉而不辞，生而不有，为而不恃，功成而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。
When the people of the Earth all know beauty as beauty,
There arises (the recognition of) ugliness.
When the people of the Earth all know the good as good,
There arises (the recognition of) evil.
Therefore:
Being and non-being interdepend in growth;
Difficult and easy interdepend in completion;
Long and short interdepend in contrast;
High and low interdepend in position;
Tones and voice interdepend in harmony;
Front and behind interdepend in company.
Therefore the Sage:
Manages affairs without action;
Preaches the doctrine without words;
All things take their rise, but he does not turn away from them;
He gives them life, but does not take possession of them;
He acts, but does not appropriate;
Accomplishes, but claims no credit.
It is because he lays claim to no credit
That the credit cannot be taken away from him.
-- Lin Yutang 林语堂
It is because every one under Heaven recognizes beauty as beauty,
that the idea of ugliness exists,
And equally if every one recognized virtue as virtue,
this would merely create fresh conceptions of wickedness,
For truly 'Being and Not-being grow out of one another,
Difficult and easy complete one another,
Long and short test one another,
High and low determine one another,
Pitch and mode give harmony to one another,
Front and back give sequence to one another,
Therefore the Sage relies on actionless activity,
Carries on wordless teaching,
But the myriad creatures are worked upon by him, he does not disown them
He rears them, but does not lay claim to them,
Controls them, but does not lean upon them,
Achieves his aim. but does not call attention to what he does,
And for the very reason that he does not call attention to what he does,
He is not ejected from fruition of what he has done.
-- Arthur Waley 亚瑟·威利
