A full moon can only wane; from the peak of the mountain there’s nowhere to go but down.

That’s why the Dao-aware eliminate what is too much, too rich, too extreme.

But Laozi and Zhuangzi, being Daoists, thought the fewer laws the better, whereas Shenzi and Hanfeizi, being Legalists, thought the entire point of government was to intervene and intervene some more.

the most important knowledge is never reducible to words.

The more prohibitions, the poorer the population; The more people arm themselves, the more chaotic the country; The more cunning and craft, the more strange events arise; The more laws, the more lawbreakers. That is why the Dao-aware say,

choosing what not to say is far more important than choosing what to say,

Those who speak, don’t know, and those who know, don’t speak. A simple matter really, but so hard to fathom.

Create without possessing, give without expecting, achieve without credit. By laying no claim, the Dao-aware make the work last.

Dao is the pattern of nature.