He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.

The sage regards things as difficult, and thereby avoids difficulty.

I have the mind of a fool, understanding nothing.

There is nothing softer and weaker than water, and yet there is nothing better for attacking hard and strong things.

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world. Through this I know the advantage of taking no action.

Don't impose your will through manipulation of aggressive emotions and actions.

There is a big misunderstanding about the idea of naturalness. Most people who come to us believing in some freedom or naturalness, but their understanding is what we call [heretical naturalness] ... a kind of "let-alone policy" or sloppiness... For a plant or stone to be natural is no problem. But for us there is some problem, indeed a big problem. To be natural is something we must work on.