Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.
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.
Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?
Heaven's Way gives no favors. It always remains with good people.
He who hoards much loses much.
Better stop short than fill to the brim. Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt. Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.