Lao Tzu

The softest things in the world override the hardest.

The pursuit of book-learning brings about daily increase. The practice of Tao brings about daily loss.

He who knows others is clever, but he who knows himself is enlightened. He who overcomes others is strong, but he who overcomes himself is mightier still. He is rich who knows when he has enough.

here is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, yet for attacking things that are hard and strong there is nothing that surpasses it, nothing that can take its place.
The soft overcomes the hard; the weak overcomes the strong.

Why are excessive care and great anxiety alike bad for one? The very reason I have anxiety is because I have a body. If I have not body why would I be anxious?
Therefore if he who administers the empire, esteems it as his own body, then he is worthy to be trusted with the empire.

If you fix upon your consciousness the fact that the desire you feel for the possession of riches is one with the desire of Omnipotence for more complete expression, your faith becomes invincible

Heaven and Earth last,

They Endure.

They do not give Birth

To other Heavens,

To other Earths.

They Endure.

The Taoist puts Self Aft,

And Self is Fore,

Treats Self as a thing outside,

And Self Endures,

Treats Self as a thing Not-Personal,

And Person is Fulfilled

Heaven and Earth Endure, in Peace and Calm. They give and expect no return. They do not strive to enrich themselves nor do they use Others for their own ends. They do not beget other Heavens and other Earths, and yet they are infinitely long-lived. Emulating Heaven and Earth, the Taoist puts Others first and Self last, is Sparing toward Self and Generous to Others. The Taoist has no personal goals, and yet the Taoist’s Person is Fulfilled Of-Itself

Like the Valley Spirit, Heaven and Earth never Die, they are the most lasting and imperishable things in the entire Universe. They have no goal, no intention to prolong Life. Heaven is Silent, and yet each Season unfolds according to its appointed time. Earth has no Intention of Heart-and-Mind, and yet the Myriad Things come into Being. When their time comes, they are Born, they grow, they are harvested and stored, each according to its Nature. All comes to pass according to the Season and the Nature of Things. Heaven and Earth have no Intention to give Birth to other Heavens and other Earths. They are Empty. Their very Emptiness gives them Long Life. The Taoist, like Heaven and Earth, Resonates freely with All-under-Heaven, dulls the edge of Cleverness, and Eschews False Knowledge. The Taoist puts Self Aft, and yet True Self comes effortlessly to the Fore, through Humility and Self-Effacement. This is the Perfection of the Tao.

Duyvendak: Heaven and Earth generate a multitude of other things, but they do not reproduce themselves, they do not create other Heavens or Earths. They show no special concern for their own continued existence, and for this very reason they Endure. So it is with the Taoist, who has no thought for Self, who practices Non-Action, who makes no active effort to further Personal interests. Without any special effort on the Taoist’s part, the Tao brings to the Fore what is Aft, what is there quietly in the background.