What remains stiff is easy to hold. What is not yet manifest is easy to plan for. What is brittle is easy to crack. What is minute is easy to scatter. Deal with things before they appear. Put things in order before disorder arises. A tree as big as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot. A tower of nine level begins with a heap of earth. The journey of a thousand li (1/3 mile) starts from where one stands He who takes an action fails. He who grasps things loses them. For this reason the sage takes no action and therefore does not fail. He grasps nothing and therefore he does not lose anything. People in their handling of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure. Therefore the sage desires to have no desire. He does not value rare treasures . He learns to be unlearned (1) and returns to what the multitude has missed (Tao). Thus he supports all things in their natural state but does not take any action.





Beware. You can only send the quote to one adress.
If you wish to send it to several peaple, first send it to yourself and forward it from your mail box. Thanks.