Heaven and Earth are not kind. They regard all things as offerings.

Without the tao, Kindness and compassion are replaced by law and justice; Faith and trust are supplanted by ritual and ceremony.

He who is able to conquer others is powerful; he who is able to conquer himself is more powerful.

We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.

It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.

When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.

Stillness overcomes heat.