The value comes from what is there, but the use comes from what is not there.

The reason for great distress is the body. Without it, what distress could there be?

The best way to carve is not to split.

The softest of stuff in the world, penetrates quickly the hardest, insubstantial, it enters where there is no room.

How can one liberate the many? By first liberating his own being. He does this not by elevating himself, but by lowering himself. He lowers himself to that which is simple, modest, true; integrating it into himself, he becomes a master of simplicity, modesty, truth.

The more weapons of violence, the more misery to mankind. The triumph of violence ends in a festival of mourning.

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