Must one dread what others dread?
When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.
The brittle is easy to shatter.
Pounding an edge to sharpness will not make it last.
I have no desire to desire, and people become like the uncarved wood by themselves.
Abandon cleverness, discard profit, and thieves and robbers will disappear.
Can you make your soul embrace the One and not lose it?
The sage embraces the one, and is an example to the world.
What the Way is to the world, the stream is to the river and the sea.
He (the sage) wants all things to follow their own nature, but dares not act.
Although he travels all day, the sage never loses sight of his luggage carts.
Who can wait in stillness while the mud settles?
Do not strive for the shine of jade, but clatter like stone.
Dignified, like a guest.
A good mooring needs no knot, still no one can untie it.
Without stirring abroad, One can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window One can see the way of heaven. The further one goes The less one knows.
Those who know are not learned. Those who are learned do not know.
All things arise in unison. Thereby we see their return.
The ancients said: Hulk to be whole.
Holding on to the weak is called strength.
Ancient masters of excellence had a subtle essence, and a depth too profound to comprehend.
The Way is eternal. Until your last day, you are free from peril.
Thirty spokes are joined in the wheel's hub. The hole in the middle makes it useful.
A climb of eight hundred feet starts where the foot stands.
Thorn bushes grow where armies have camped.
