“It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full.”

“Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.”

“The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness.”

“Thirty spokes share one hub in non-being lies the use of the cart knead clay to make vessels in non-being lies the use of the vessel cut out doors and windows to make a housetherefore form being comes what is usable and from non-being comes what is essential.”

“Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestly carry it into practice.”

“Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”

“Everything under heaven is a sacred vessel and cannot be controlled. Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose. Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it too is a vessel of perfection. Just as you breathe in and breathe out, there is a time for being ahead and a time for being behind; a time for being in motion and a time for being at rest; a time for being vigorous and a time for being exhausted; a time for being safe and a time for being in danger.”