practice no-action;

attend to do-nothing;

taste the flavorless,

magnify the small,

multiply the few,

return love for hate.

deal with the difficult while it is yet easy;

deal with the great while it is yet small;

the difficult develops naturally from the easy,

and the great from the small;

so the sage, by dealing with the small,

achieves the great.

who finds it easy to promise finds it hard to be trusted;

who takes things lightly finds things difficult;

the sage recognizes difficulty, and so has none.