Man, when living, is soft and tender; when dead, he is hard and tough. All animals and plants when living are tender and delicate; when dead they become withered and dry. Therefore it is said: the hard and tough are parts of death; the soft and tender are parts of life.

If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?

He who does not trust enough will not be trusted.

The world is ruled by letting things take their course. It cannot be ruled by interfering.

A man's excellence is like that of water; It benefits all things without striving; It takes to the low places shunned by men. Water is akin to Tao. . . . In all the earth nothing weaker than water, Yet in attacking the hard, nothing superior, Nothing so certain in wearing down strength: There is no way to resist it. Note then: The weak conquer the strong, The yielding outlast the aggressors.

Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.

A tree as wide as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.