<  Dao De Jing >  Chapter 36

When one is about to take an inspiration,
he is sure to make a（previous）expiration;
when he is going to weaken another,
he will first strengthen him;
when he is going to overthrow another,
he will first have raised him up;
when he is going to despoil another,
he will first have made gifts to him:
—  this is called‘Hiding the light（of his procedure）
The soft overcomes the hard ; and the weak the strong.
Fishes should not be taken from the deep;
instruments for the profit of a state should not be shown to the people.