"If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, even though he be a bad-tempered man, he will not get angry. But if there is someone in the other boat, he will shout at him…"

"The sage embraces things as they are, and does not contend with them."

"If a man has no way to control his desires, he is like a fish in a dry rut, waiting for the north wind to blow the water into it."

"The torch of doubt is lit at the moment of our birth and is not extinguished until the moment of our death."

"The sage is like a shadow that has no substance, or an echo that has no sound."