When people do not dread authorities, then a greater dread descends.
Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.
We go from birth to death. Three out of ten follow life. Three out of ten follow death. People who rush from birth to death are also three out of ten. Why is that so? Because they want to make too much of life.
Filling life exceedingly is called ominous.
There is one appointed supreme executioner. Truly, trying to take the place of the supreme executioner is like trying to carve wood like a master carpenter. Of those who try to carve wood like a master carpenter, there are few who do not injure their hands.
Truly, only acting without thought of one’s life is superior to valuing one’s life.
The hard and stiff are death’s companions. The soft and weak are life’s companions.
Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.
The True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
The True Person benefits yet expects no reward, does the work and moves on. There is no desire to be considered better than others.
There is no greater offence than harbouring desires. There is no greater disaster than discontent. There is no greater misfortune than wanting more.
The ten thousand things flourish and then each returns to the root from which it came. Returning to the root is stillness. Through stillness each fulfils its destiny.
Weapons are not proper instruments for gentle people; they use them only when they have no other choice. Peace and quiet are what they value. They do not glory in victory.
What is well rooted cannot be pulled up. What is firmly grasped will not slip loose. It will be honoured from generation to generation.
The people starve because those above them eat too much tax-grain. That is the only reason why they starve.
Before healing others, heal yourself.
Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course? Can you step back from you own mind and thus understand all things? Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.
Take care with the end as you do with the beginning.
Some lose yet gain, others gain and yet lose.
When there is no desire, all things are at peace.