Chapter 63

The way of the Tao is to act without acting, to handle affairs without fuss, to taste without noticing flavor, to treat the small as great and the few as many, and to repay injury with kindness.

The master of the Tao tackles difficulties while they are still easy and handles great matters while they are still small. Every difficult thing in the world began as something easy, and every great thing began as something small. So the sage never attempts anything great, and for that very reason achieves greatness.

Anyone who promises lightly will keep little faith; anyone who thinks everything is easy will find everything hard. So the sage sees difficulty even in what looks easy, and therefore never runs into difficulty.