We value the Dao because it has no intrinsic value, no chance of profit or possession. It is those material things that lead us away from the path, take us down blind alleys, winding roads that never end and keep leading us back to where we started, a maze that cannot be solved. No one can make a market in the Dao, so with no chance of profit in one’s pocket, it has no luster to the feeble minded. The Dao cannot be bought and sold. With no buyers and no sellers, there can be no transactions, no exchange of funds, no bartering. There are a million books about the Dao written for profit and for this reason, none can be as pure as the spoken word. Honor dies where profit lies.
