. . . Intelligence is not the same thing as wisdom.

A journey of a thousand leagues begins beneath one's feet.

heaven is eternal, earth everlasting. they endure this way because they do not live for themselves. in the same way, the wise person puts himself last, and thereby finds himself first, holds himself outside, and thereby remains at the center, abandons himself, and is thereby fulfilled.

Only fools seek power, and the greatest fools seek it through force.

Pounding an edge to sharpness will not make it last.

When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the Way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not. When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.

The farther you go, the less you know.