Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you.

Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.

In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.

Can you open and close the gate of Heaven and act like a woman?

In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle - this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly.

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world. Through this I know the advantage of taking no action.

The world is a sacred vessel. It should not be meddled with. It should not be owned. If you try to meddle with it you will ruin it. If you try to own it you will lose it