Everything in the universe is created from something, which in turn is created from nothing.

Whatever one cultivates, is what one becomes.

There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war.

The best way to carve is not to split.

Whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. What is soft is strong.

Cultivate virtue in the world, and it will be universal.

In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle - this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly.