Take [preventive] action before things happen. Establish order before disorder has begun.

From now back to antiquity, its (Tao's) name has not been lost. Thereby, see the origin of all.

Stay at the center and let all things take their course.

Practice non-action. Work without doing.

Although most people spend their entire lives following this biological impulse (i.e. the sex drive), it is only a tiny portion of our beings. . . . If we remain obsessed with seeds and eggs, we are married to the fertile reproductive valley of the Mysterious Mother but not to her immeasurable heart and all-knowing mind.

Weapons are not proper instruments for gentle people; they use them only when they have no other choice. Peace and quiet are what they value. They do not glory in victory.

Use justice to rule a country. Use surprise to wage war. Use non-action to govern the world.