He who in the Dao’s wars has skill assumes no martial port; he who fights with most good will to rage makes no resort; he who vanquishes yet still keeps from his foes apart; he whose commands men most fulfil yet humbly plies his art.

Thus we say, ‘He never contends, and therein is his might.’ Thus we say, ‘Men’s wills he bends, that they with him unite.’ Thus we say, ‘Like Heaven’s his ends, no sage of old more bright.’ As shown in Chapter 66, because the sage does not strive, no one can strive with him — and Chapter 67 shows that gentleness, not force, is the first of the three treasures that Heaven protects.