Take [preventive] action before things happen. Establish order before disorder has begun.
Warriors say: I dare not be like the host, but would rather be like the guest. I dare not advance an inch, but would rather retreat a foot.
The sage has no concern for himself, but makes the concerns of others his own.
In lightness the root is lost. In haste the ruler is lost.
I am at peace, and people become fair by themselves.
Softness triumphs over hardness, feebleness over strength. What is more malleable is always superior over that which is immoveable. This is the principle of controlling things by going along with them, of mastery through adaptation.