Listlessly govern And the people are happy Govern exactingly And the people are restless Bad fortune sometimes Brings out the good And...

Do not control the people with laws No through violence nor espionage But rule with non-action For the more morals and taboos there are...

He who speaks does not know He who knows does not speak He who understands does not preach Temper your judgments and your words Smooth...

Who is filled with the Tao is like a newborn Wasps and snakes will not bite him Hawks and tigers will not claw him His bones are soft yet...

Following the road of the Tao is easy For it is great and broad and simple But people prefer the crooked by-ways When the palaces and...

The beginning of the world is its mother Understand the mother and you understand the child Embrace the child and you embrace the mother...

All things come from the Tao Nourished by its outpouring With matter they take shape With use perfects them Therefore all things Without...

All men live, all men die But some men want to live forever And so perish early For it is the undying cancer cell that destroys By its...

The sage does not distinguish between himself and the world The needs of others are as his own He is good to those who are good But he is...

The student of knowledge gains as much as he can every day The student of Tao loses as much every day There is loss upon loss until At...