Prepare while it's easy.
When the palace is magnificent, the fields are filled with weeds, and the granaries are empty.
New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.
When the great Tao is abandoned, benevolence and righteousness arise.
A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. Thus by nature's own decree, the soft and gentle are triumphant.
The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.