The chapter opens with wu wei as a working method: act through non-action; attend to affairs without interference; taste the tasteless; regard the small as great and the few as many — and, in the line other traditions would spend centuries rediscovering, repay injury with virtue. Then it delivers the most practical time-management teaching in the classic: plan for the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great while it is still small. All difficult things in the world begin as easy ones; all great things begin as small ones.
Hence the sage's secret, stated as pure paradox: he never attempts what is great — and so achieves greatness. Every enormous problem was once a small one someone ignored; every great work is a chain of small ones someone actually did. The closing warns against the casual confidence that skips this: one who promises lightly rarely delivers; one who finds everything easy finds everything hard. The sage treats everything as difficult — and therefore, in the end, encounters no difficulty.
Key verses
Act through non-action; attend to affairs without interference; taste the tasteless. Regard the small as great and the few as many; repay injury with virtue. Plan for the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great while it is still small. All difficult things in the world begin as easy ones; all great things begin as small ones. Therefore the sage never attempts what is great, and so achieves greatness. One who makes promises lightly will rarely keep them; one who treats many things as easy will find many things hard. Therefore the sage treats everything as difficult, and in the end encounters no difficulty.
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