Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Throw away sacredness and wisdom and people will be one hundred times happier.

I have no desire to desire, and people become like the uncarved wood by themselves.

Give up your relentless moralizing, the continual pinpricks which pierce the skin of your fellows. The distinction between good and evil is the sickness of the mind. Give up your morals, and the people will regain a love of their fellows.

When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.

To bear and not to own; to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay.

As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow. The top is bent downward; the bottom is bent up. It adjusts excess and deficiency so that there is perfect balance.