“The sage puts herself last and is first.”
“If you put everyone else first you'll always be last, but if you always put yourself first you will never last.”
“Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet that person is preserved.”
“The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first.”
“Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence.”
“Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.”