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Tao Te Ching · 24 of 81

Chapter 24

He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretches his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self- conceited has no superiority allowed to him. Such conditions, viewed from the standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or a tumour on the body, which all dislike. Hence those who pursue (the course) of the Tao do not adopt and allow them.

Echoes elsewhere

Chuang Tzu · Taoism25. 1. There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching Tertium Organum: The Third Canon of Thought · Esotericcall it the form of the formless, the image of the imageless, the fleeting and the indeterminable. There is something chaotic, yet complete, which existed before heaven and earth. Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist · Buddhismas mother [of all things] under the heavens. I do not know its name, But if needed call it Great. The Great walks on, Walks on to the farthest end, And then returns. Therefore the