Dao De Jing

64a. Care at the Beginning

What lies still is easy to grasp;

What lies far off is easy to anticipate;

What is brittle is easy to shatter;

What is small is easy to disperse.

Yet a tree broader than a man can embrace is born of a tiny shoot;

A dam greater than a river can overflow starts with a clod of earth;

A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet.

Therefore deal with things before they happen;

Create order before there is confusion.