I am going to try speaking some reckless words, and I want you to try to listen recklessly.
There are no greater adversaries than yin and yang, because nothing in Heaven or on Earth escapes them. But it is not yin and yang that do this, it is your heart that makes it so.
You are still guided by your expectations.
The true man breathes with his heels.
He who knows he is a fool is not the biggest fool; He who knows he is confused is not in the worst confusion.
The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.
Easy is right. Begin right and you are easy. Continue easy and you are right. The right way to go easy is to forget the right way, and forget that the going is easy.
Great understanding is broad and unhurried; little understanding is cramped and busy.
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.
Men of this world all rejoice in others being like themselves, and object to others not being like themselves.
Verily God does not reward man for what he does, but for what he is.
When there is no more separation between ‘this’ and ‘that,’ it is called the still-point of the Tao. At the still point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things.
If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind.
Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone.
The perfect man of old looked after himself first before looking to help others.
One whose inner being is fixed upon such greatness emits a Heavenly glow. Even though he has this Heavenly glow, others will see him as just a man. Someone who has reached this point will begin to be consistent.
The saying goes, ‘The sage rests, truly rests and is at ease.’ This manifests itself in calmness and detachment, so that worries and distress cannot affect him, nothing unpleasant can disturb him, his Virtue is complete and his spirit is not stirred up.
So if loss of what gives happiness causes you distress when it fades, you can now understand that such happiness is worthless. It is said, those who lose themselves in their desire for things also lose their innate nature by being vulgar.
The true man of the past waited upon Heaven when dealing with people and did not wait upon people when dealing with Heaven.
It is only when the formed learns from the unformed that there is understanding.