Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.
Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.
Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.
The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'
The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.
I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.
Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.
Be the chief but never the lord.
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.
A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.
Nature is not human hearted.
One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
