《菜根谭》英译（洁常自污出、明每从暗生）

粪虫至秽，变为蝉而饮露于秋风；腐草无光，化为萤而跃彩于夏月。因知洁常自污出，明每从晦生也。<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Nothing is filthier than the dung beetle, yet in one morning it can turn into a cicada and drink the pure autumn dew. Rotten grass has no luster, yet in one morning it can give birth to the glowworm, which gives out brilliant flashes of light on summer nights. From this we can know that pure things can emerge from filthy places and brightness is often a product of darkness.

（保罗·怀特 译） 

There is none so filthy as the beetle waggling in muckheap, yet it sips pure dewdrops in the autumn wind after having transformed into a cicada. Lusterless are rotten weeds, yet the fireflies bred thereby glitter fluorescent light under the moon at summer night. These natural givens reveal that cleanliness usually derives from dirt and brightness from gloom.

（周文标 译）