“To be worn out is to be renewed.”

“The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new.”

“It is through their not being full of themselves that they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.”

“The flexible are preserved unbroken. The bent become straight. The empty are filled. The exhausted become renewed. The poor are enriched. The rich are confounded. Therefore the sage embraces the one. Because he doesn't display himself, people can see his light. Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words. Because he doesn't know who he is, people recognize themselves in him. Because he has no goal in mind, everything he does succeeds. The old saying that the flexible are preserved unbroken is surely right! If you have truely attained wholeness, everything will flock to you.”

“The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he knows.”

“The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends.”

“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.”