"Fill your bowls to the brim and they will spill. Sharpen your blade to the sharpest and it will soon blunt."

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

"The sage knows without traveling, perceives without looking, completes without acting."

"The Sage manages affairs without doing anything, and spreads doctrines without speaking."

"Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Too much handling will spoil it."