Teaching without words, utility without action,
Few in the world have come to this
Not knowing that one knows is best;
Thinking that one knows when one does not know is sickness.
Only when one becomes sick of this sickness can one be free from sickness.
The sage is never sick; because he is sick of this sickness, therefore he is not sick.
Tao Tê King
He who pursues learning will increase every day;
He who pursues tao will decrease every day.
He will decrease and continue to decrease,
Till he comes to non-action;
By non-action everything can be done.
Tao Tê King
Tao is ever inactive and yet there is nothing that it does not do
Tao Tê King
Attain to the goal of absolute vacuity;
Keep to the state of perfect peace.
All things come into existence,
And thence we see them return.
Tao Tê King
The beginning of the Universe, when manifested, may be regarded as its Mother.
When a man ahs found the Mother , he will know the children accordingly
Tao Tê King
There is a thing inherent and natural
Which existed before heaven and earth.
Motionless and fathomless,
It stands alone and never changes;
It pervades everywhere and never becomes exhausted.
It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe.
I do not know its name,
I call it Tao, and I name it as supreme.
Tao Tê King
The Valley and the spirit never die.
They form what is called the primal Mother,
From whose gate comes the origin of heavens and earth?
This (the origin) seems ever to endure
In use, it can never be exhausted.
Tao Tê King
Tao begets One; One begets two; two begets three; three begets all things. All things are backed by the Shade (yin) and faced by the Light (yang), and harmonized by the immaterial Breath (Ch’i).
Tao Tê King
In ruling men and in serving Heaven, the sage uses only moderation
By moderation alone he is able to have conformed early to Tao
This early conformity is called intensive accumulation of virtue
With this intensive accumulation of virtue, there is nothing that he cannot overcome.
Tao Tê King
Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish (do it gently)
Tao Tê King