Superior leaders get things done with very little motion. They impart instruction not through many words, but through a few deeds. They keep informed about everything but interfere hardly at all. They are catalysts, and though things would not get done as well if they were not there, when they succeed they take no credit. And, because they take no credit, credit never leaves them.

Abandon cleverness, discard profit, and thieves and robbers will disappear.

When the government is quite unobtrusive, people are indeed pure. When the government is quite prying, people are indeed conniving.

Let the country be small, and the inhabitants few.

When you are one with loss, the loss is experienced willingly.

Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.

Who can wait quietly until the mud settles? Who can remain still until the moment of action?