Laozi

The greatest flaw is to desire more.

To yield is to be preserved whole. To be bent is to be straightened. To be empty is to be filled. To be worn out is to be renewed. To have little is to gain. To have plenty is to be perplexed.

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty. He who is content is rich. He who acts with vigor has a will. He who does not lose his station will endure. He who dies but does not perish has everlasting life.

The sage, because he does not contend, is therefore without reproach.

The sage puts his person last and finds his person first. He treats his person as external and his person is preserved.

The more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world, the poorer the people will be.

The greatest villain is the one who tries to do good.

The empire is a sacred vessel and cannot be acted on. He who acts on it harms it; he who grasps it loses it.

The great square has no corners. The great vessel is never full. The great sound is inaudible. The great image has no form.

The more laws and ordinances are promulgated, the more thieves and bandits there will be.

The sage has no mind of his own. He takes the mind of the people as his mind.

He who values himself more than the world can be entrusted with the world. He who loves himself more than the world can be charged with the world.

The Tao is always nameless. When it is carved, it becomes names. As soon as there are names, know that it is time to stop. Knowing when to stop, one can be free from danger.

The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done.

Govern a state by justice, wage war by surprise, and take the world by doing nothing.

When the great sage is born, the world is at peace.

The wise man's food is that which nourishes, not that which pleases the eye.

To know yet to think that one does not know is the highest [attainment]. Not to know yet to think that one knows is a disease.

The whole world knows that the good is good, and this is how evil arises. The whole world knows that the beautiful is beautiful, and this is how ugliness arises.

The sage embraces the One and becomes the model of the world. He does not display himself, therefore he shines. He does not assert himself, therefore he is distinguished. He does not boast, therefore he is credited. He does not contend, therefore no one in the world can contend with him.