Not valuing wealth prevents theft.
Soil with a lot of manure in it produces abundant crops; water that is too clear has no fish. Therefore, enlightened people should maintain the capacity to accept impurities and should not be solitary perfectionists.
When we have complements or oppositions, change occurs.
Excellent leaders of people lower themselves.
The sage acts without taking credit. He accomplishes without dwelling on it. He does not want to display his worth.
Male and female are the first things we learn because they represent the polarity of existence.
Taoism extols the virtue of flexibility. What survives on earth is what effortlessly adapts to the changing environment and changing circumstances.
If you are not lax when at leisure, you will be effective when busy. If you are not absentminded in tranquility, that will be useful in action. If you are not hypocritical in private, that will show up in public.
The one who rules like the mother lasts long.
The one who can dissolve her mind will suddenly discover the Tao at her feet.
A good mooring needs no knot, still no one can untie it.
Those who are quiet value the words. When their task is completed, people will say: We did it ourselves.
Although he travels all day, the sage never loses sight of his luggage carts.
By moderation one can be generous.
The most complete seems lacking. Yet in use it is not exhausted.
The small is easy to scatter.
We really have no choice in the matter. We are given a description of the world that is much more potent and much deeper than you might realize.
The Way is empty, yet inexhaustible, like an abyss!
The sage is one with the world, and lives in harmony with it.
Let people return to making knots on ropes, instead of writing.