“Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest things.”

“Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by.”

“The sage produces without possessing, acts without expectations, and accomplishes without abiding in her accomplishments. It is precisely because she does not abide in them that they never leave her.”

“So the Dark did a simple thing. They showed the maker of the sword his own uncertainty and fear. Fear of having done the wrong thing--fear that having done this one great thing, he would never again be able to accomplish anything of great worth--fear of age, of insufficiency, of unmet promise. All such great fears, that are the doom of people given the gift of making, and lie always somewhere in their minds.”

“Tangled grasses lie matted with death,but generals keep at it. And for what?Isn't it clear that weapons are the tools of misery?The great sages never waited until the needfor such things arose.”

“Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and manifests it to all the world.”