Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world.

The sage knows without traveling, perceives without looking, completes without acting.

Geese are white, crows are black. No argument will change this.

Have patience. Wait until the mud settles and the water is clear. Remain unmoving until right action arises by itself.

The good man is the teacher of the bad, And the bad is the material from which the good may learn. He who does not value the teacher, Or greatly care for the material, Is greatly deluded although he may be learned. Such is the essential mystery.

In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.

Those who make their living by collecting taxes cause the people to starve; when the people starve, the tax collectors, having no one to tax, starve also