Chapter 22

曲則全，枉則直，窪則盈，敝則新，少則多，多則惑。
是以聖人抱一為天下式。
不自見，故明；
不自是，故彰；
不自伐，故有功；
不自矜，故長。
夫唯不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。
古之所謂曲則全者，豈虛言哉！
誠全而歸之。

Bent, it is whole; crooked, it is straight; hollow, it is full; worn, it is new; with little, there is more; with much, there is confusion.
That is why the sage holds to the One and is a pattern for the world.
He does not display himself, and so he is plain to see;
he does not justify himself, and so he stands out;
he does not boast, and so he has merit;
he does not brag, and so he lasts.
Precisely because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him.
What the ancients called “bent, it is whole”: how could those be empty words!
Be truly whole, and return to it.