Chapter 50
The Way gives birth to them, Virtue nurtures them, matter gives them form, and circumstance brings them to completion.
Thus all things without exception revere the Way and treasure Virtue.
The reverence for the Way, the treasuring of Virtue — none commands this; it is ever so of its own accord.
Thus the Way gives birth to them, Virtue nurtures them; it matures them, rears them; it brings them to fruition, ripens them; it sustains them, shelters them.
It gives birth yet does not possess; it acts yet does not rely on this; it matures yet does not dominate. This is called the Mysterious Virtue.