My words are easy to understand

My actions are easy to perform

Yet no other can understand or perform them

My words have meaning

My actions have reason

Yet these cannot be known and I cannot be known

We are each unique, and therefore valuable

Though the sage wears coarse clot...

There is a saying among soldiers:

It is easier to lose a yard than to take an inch

In this manner one may deploy troops without marshaling them

Sleeves up but no bare arms

Engage the foe without fighting thenm

There is no worse disaster than misunderstanding my enemy 

To the...

Compassion is the finest weapon and best defense

If you would establish harmony,

Compassion must surround you like a fortress

A skillful soldier is not violent

An able fighter does not rage

A mighty conqueror does not instigate battle

A great commander is a humble man

This is...

Rivers carve out valleys by flowing underneath

Thus the river is the master of the valley

In order to master people

One must represent them as their servant

In order to lead people

One must follow

Thus when a sage rises above people

They do not feel oppressed

And when a sage s...

The ancients skilled in the Tao did not seek to rule with knowledge

But to help others return to what is natural

It is difficult for the knowledgeable to see simply

So to use law to control a nation weakens the nation

But to make people see to control a nation strengthens...

What lies still is easy to grasp

What lies far off is easy to anticipate

What is brittle is easy to shatter

What is small is easy to disperse

Yet a tree broader than what a man can embrace

Comes from a tiny seed

A dam greater than a river can overcome

Starts with a clump of e...

 Act in repose

Be at rest when you work

Savor unflavored things

Magnify the small

Multiply the few

Return love for hate

Deal with difficult while it is yet easy

Deal with the great while it is yet small

The difficult develops naturally from the easy

And the great from the small

...

The Tao is the meaning of man's life

It is the treasure of the saint

And the refuge of the sinner

Consoling words are often borrowed

Good deeds are often copied

Thus when a man falls, 

Do not abandon him

When a man gains power, 

Do not honor him

Treat both the same

For they are...

 A great state is a place where paths converge

It becomes a center where smaller states can meet in peace

Just as a maiden wins her husband by submitting to his advances

Thus submission is a means to union

So when a large state submits to a smaller country

It adopts the sma...

In ruling men, treat the duty as with a fragile egg

To govern in accord with nature

Is to govern with restraint

Restraint makes agreement easy

Easy agreement builds harmonious relationships

With sufficient harmony no resistance will arise

When no resistance arises, then you...