Acting without design, occupying oneself without making a business of it, finding the great in what is small and the many in the few, repaying injury with kindness, effecting difficult things while they are easy, and managing great things in their beginnings; this is the method of Tao.

He who possess virtue in abundance may be compared to an infant.

We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see, but these things are only the effects of something subtle.

Seal the openings, shut the doors, dull the sharpness, untie the knots, dim the light, become one with the dust. This is called the profound union.

He who is great must make humility his base. He who is high must make lowliness his foundation. Thus, princes and kings in speaking of themselves use the terms "lonely," "friendless," "of small account." Is not this making humility their base?

Praise leads to weakness. Getting it causes fear, losing it causes fear.

Searching for precious goods leads astray.