As to leadership, Tao assists the humble, helping and supporting them.
Being simple, it may be said that they are like water;
absorbing without limit,
never ceasing.
So too, Tao is not prominent.
Rather, he appears beneath.
Without glory,
he makes himself manifest.
Not seeking to be known,
no one finds fault.
For this reason,
all who wish to follow the Way
look with nothing but kindness in mind,
and are not skeptical of its ultimate value.
other readings further drafts from the same generation
deeper strata where the meaning thins
the original
1. That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the homage
and tribute of all the valley streams, is their skill in being lower
than they;--it is thus that they are the kings of them all. So it is
that the sage (ruler), wishing to be above men, puts himself by his
words below them, and, wishing to be before them, places his person
behind them.
2. In this way though he has his place above them, men do not feel his
weight, nor though he has his place before them, do they feel it an
injury to them.
3. Therefore all in the world delight to exalt him and do not weary of
him. Because he does not strive, no one finds it possible to strive
with him.