63

Act without force,
Work without will,
Taste without prejudice,
Regard the tiny as great,
And a dearth as an abundance.

Reward an enemy with kindness,
Deal with the doable before it grows difficult,
And attend to the minor before it becomes major.
The hardest problems were once thought of as simple,
And the biggest issues started off small.

One who takes responsibilities too lightly
Will never be trusted,
And one who regards everything as trivial
Will soon find it all insurmountable.

It is precisely because the sage doesn’t think of himself highly
That he achieves greatness:
Because he regards everything as important,
He is never caught off guard,
And nothing is ever difficult for him to do.