Dao De Jing,
Book 1,
Verse 26.
The heavy is the root of the light.
The still is the lord of the restless.
Therefore,
The gentleman,
When traveling all day,
Never lets the heavily laden carts out of his sight.
It is only when he is safely behind walls and watchtowers that he rests peacefully and is above worries.
How,
Then,
Should a ruler of 10,
000 chariots make light of his own person in the eyes of the empire?
If light,
Then the root is lost.
If restless,
Then the lord is lost.
Verse 27.
One who excels in traveling leaves no wheel tracks.
One who excels in speech makes no slips.
One who excels in reckoning uses no counting rods.
One who excels in shutting uses no bolts,
Yet what he has shut cannot be opened.
One who excels in tying uses no cords,
Yet what he has tied cannot be undone.
Therefore,
The sage always excels in saving people and so abandons no one.
Always excels in saving things and so abandons nothing.
This is called following one's discernment.
Hence,
The good man is the teacher the bad learns from,
And the bad man is the material the good works on.
Not to value the teacher nor to love the material,
Though it seems clever,
Betrays great bewilderment.
This is called the essential and the secret.
