81. True words are not eloquent; eloquent words are not true. Wise men do not need to debate; men who need to debate are not wise...

80. Imagine a small country with few people. They enjoy the labour of their hands and do not waste time inventing labour-saving m...

79. Failure is an opportunity. If you blame someone else, there is no end to blame. Someone must risk repaying injury with kind...

78. Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and rigid, nothing can surpass it. Eve...

77. The Tao works in the world like the drawing of a bow. The top is bent downward, the bottom is bent up. It adjusts excess an...

76. The living are soft and supple; the dead are rigid and stiff. In life, plants are flexible and tender; in death, they are bri...

75. When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the pe...

74. If you realise that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is ...

73. The Tao is always at ease. It does not compete, yet overcomes, does not speak, yet responds, does not command, yet is obeyed,...

72. When they lose their sense of wonder, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upo...

71. Knowing that you don’t know is true knowledge. Presuming that you know is a disease. Only by recognising that you have an illne...

70. My teachings are easy to understand and easier to put into practise. Yet so few in this world understand and so few are able ...

69. There is an old saying: “Rather than make the first move it is better to wait and see. It is better to retreat a foot than ...

68. The best warriors do not use violence. The best tacticians try to avoid confrontation. The best businessmen serve the com...

67. Many people talk about ‘my Tao’ with such familiarity. What folly! The Tao is not something found at the marketplace or pas...

66. All streams flow to the sea because it lies below them. Humility gives it its power. If you want to govern the people, yo...

65. The ancient Masters who understood the way of the Tao did not try to educate people, but kindly taught them to not-know. Th...

64. What is at rest is easily managed. What is not yet manifest is easy to prevent. What is rooted is easy to nourish. What is br...

63. Act without doing, work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many. See simplicity in the complicated....