Excerpts from The Book of the Way (Translator unknown)

"Success is as dangerous as failure.

Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is

as dangerous as failure?

Whether you go up the ladder or down it,

your position is shaky.

When you stand with your two feet 

on the ground,

you will always keep your balance.

What does it mean that hope is

as hollow as fear?

Hope and fear are both phantoms.

That arise from thinking of the self.

When we don't see the self as self,

what do we have to fear?

See the world as your self.

Have faith in the way things are.

Love the world as your self;

then you can care for all things."

"When they lose their sense of awe, 

people turn to religion.

When they no longer trust themselves,

they begin to depend on authority."

"Men are born soft and supple;

dead, they are stiff and hard.

Plants are born tender and pliant;

dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible

is a disciple of death.

Whoever is soft and yielding 

is a disciple of life."