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.

Displaying riches and titles with pride brings about one's downfall.

Rituals are the end of fidelity and honesty, and the beginning of confusion.

Failure is the foundation of success: success is the lurking place of failure.

To practice virtue is to selflessly offer assistance to others, giving without limitation one's time, abilities, and possessions in service, whenever and wherever needed, without prejudice concerning the identity of those in need.

The real art of governing consists, so far as possible, in doing nothing.

The Tao is always at ease. It overcomes without competing, answers without speaking a word, arrives without being summoned, accomplishes without a plan. Its net covers the whole universe. And though its meshes are wide, it doesn't let a thing slip through.