Line by Line - Verse 7, Lines 3-4

The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

They are unborn, So ever living.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The reason Heaven and Earth can last forever Is that they do not exist for themselves Thus they can last forever
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Because it isn't trying to accomplish anything.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For me, the underlying message of this line is clear, though not so easy to define! Entities that are born eventually die. It is the universal cycle of this phenomena we call existence.

Tao, however, is not an entity. It is formless and nameless. Tao is that thing (for lack of a better word) that makes life possible. This mysterious force undergirds everything without limitations. That which cannot be delimited by something else is what might be described as eternal -- never born, never dead.

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