Simple, like uncarved wood.
Behave simply and hold on to purity.
Let people return to making knots on ropes, instead of writing.
Attain utmost emptiness. Abide in steadfast stillness.
Returning to the source is stillness. It is returning to one’s fate. Returning to one’s fate is eternal.
Stillness overcomes heat.
Stillness is easy to maintain.
A multitude of words is tiresome, unlike remaining centered.
Those who are quiet value the words. When their task is completed, people will say: We did it ourselves.
To be of few words is natural.
Where there is no conflict, there is no fault.
Those who are one with deprivation are deprived of deprivation.
The sage is one with the world, and lives in harmony with it.
Harmony is called the eternal. Knowing the eternal is called clarity.
Praise and disgrace cause fear.
Praise leads to weakness. Getting it causes fear, losing it causes fear.
The reason for great distress is the body. Without it, what distress could there be?
Must one dread what others dread?
If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?
If people live in constant fear of death, and if breaking the law is punished by death, then who would dare?