The greatest virtue is to follow the Way utterly.

The Tao is like a well; used but never used up.

The best form of leadership is to be conscious of the leadership potential with the followers and to let them unleash this potential in a spontaneous way. When a great leader accomplishes this task with effortless ease, the followers say, "We did it ourselves."

Approach your own inner life with a loving quality that accepts who you are without trying to change who you are.

What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.

The living are soft and yielding; the dead are rigid and stiff. Living plants are flexible and tender; the dead are brittle and dry.

Peace and quiet are preferred. Victory should not be praised.