Other people are joyous, like on the feast of the ox, like on the way up to the terrace in the spring. I alone am inert, giving no sign, like a newborn baby who has not learned to smile.

When the palace is magnificent, the fields are filled with weeds, and the granaries are empty.

What Heaven detests, who knows why? Even the sage considers it difficult.

Human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless.

Those who stay where they are will endure.

When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the people's benefit. Trust them; leave them alone.

Complete your task. Seek no reward. Make no claims. Without faltering fully choose to do what you must do.