The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Man is great. These are the four great powers. Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.

The most able seems clumsy.

Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice.

That the soft overcomes the hard, and the yielding overcomes the resistant, is a fact known by all, but practiced by few.

Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.

From now back to antiquity, its (Tao's) name has not been lost. Thereby, see the origin of all.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.