Thought from the Tao

I read from the Tao te Ching (Lao Tzu) when I'm eating at home (which I sometimes do...when I remember).

I liked this verse this morning (this afternoon--when I remembered to eat breakfast):

"You can readily recognize the highest virtuousness
because it never places itself on display.
You can readily recognize the lowest virtuousness
because it is always announcing itself.

"The highest virtue quietly serves universal needs.
The lowest virtue actively strives for personal success.
The highest morality serves common needs.
The lowest morality is self-serving.

"True benevolence
acts without intention...

"Natural persons are attracted
to substance rather than form,
to the nutritious fruit rather than the enticing flower,
to that which dwells deeply within,
rather than to that which clings superficially to the surface."

~Tao te Ching, verse 38