The best, like water, 

Benefit all and do not compete. 

They dwell in lowly spots that everyone else scorns. 

Putting others before themselves, 

They find themselves in the foremost place 

And come very near to the Tao. 

In their dwelling, they love the earth; 

In their heart, they love what is deep;

In personal relationships, they love kindness; 

In their words, they love truth; 

In the world, they love peace. 

In personal affairs, they love what is right. 

In action, they love choosing the right time.

It is because they do not compete with others 

That they are beyond the reproach of the world. 

With pale pink unruly flowers 

And scent of heaven

You riot into blousiness

And showers of defeat.

The more we sternly cut you down

The more you eagerly return 

To share our lifelong summers 

And our disorderedness. 

You'll carry on when we are gone 

With each returning year 

Climbing walls and flowering summers 

For countless dawns to come. 

(By Alice Audsley from: 'Another Packet of Poems' )

"The Tao is the breath that never dies. 

It is a Mother to all Creation.

It is the root and ground of every soul

 - the fountain of Heaven and Earth laid open.

Endless source, endless river

River of no shape, river of no water

Drifting invisibly from place to place 

it never ends 

                          it never fails."