“Manage affairs before they are in a mess.”

“Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.”

“The difficult problems in life always start off being simple. Great affairs always start off being small.”

“I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.”

“that the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.”

“In this way though he has his place above them, men do not feel his weight, nor though he has his place before them, do they feel it an injury to them.”

“A man who knows how little he knows is well, a man who knows how much he knows is sick. If, when you see the symptoms, you can tell, Your cure is quick.A sound man knows that sickness makes him sick and before he catches it his cure is quick.”