“We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others.”

“Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.”

“Close your mouth,block off your senses,blunt your sharpness,untie your knots,soften your glare,settle your dust.This is the primal identity.”

“If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold.”

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

“If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.”

“If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become filial and kindly.”