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 truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface.

Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.

Do not make them (people) weary at their work. If you do not make them weary, they will not be weary of you.

First, we must do our own personal work, then we tend the necessary work of our family, then our community, then the world.

Silence is a source of great strenght.

The greatest revelation is stillness.