If you want to nourish a bird, you should let it live any way it chooses. Creatures differ because they have different likes and dislikes. Therefore the sages never require the same ability from all creatures. . . concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable. The true saint leaves wisdom to the ants, takes a cue from the fishes, and leaves willfulness to the sheep.

The ultimate happiness is doing nothing.

Heaven does without doing through its purity, Earth does without doing through its calmness.

The men of old breathed clear down to their heels.

To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.

Your preciousness lies in your essence; it cannot be lost by anything that happens.

Understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest.