The sage does not strive to be great. Thereby he can accomplish the great.

Meet the difficult while it is easy.

The best soldier does not attack. The superior fighter succeeds without violence. The greatest conqueror wins without struggle. The most successful manager leads without dictating. This is intelligent non aggressiveness.

The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done. If powerful men and women could venter themselves in it, the whole world would be transformed by itself, in its natural rhythms. People would be content with their simple, everyday lives, in harmony, and free of desire. When there is no desire, all things are at peace.

Whatever is flexible and living will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.

We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.

The reality of the building does not consist in the roof and walls, but in the space within to be lived in.