Confidence

Truth perceived gives assurance.

Skill yields self-reliance.

With courage, we can defy danger.

To increase power, increase humility.

Through constant contemplation, we can arrive at the truth. The more experienced  we are, the more thorough our understanding, and thus the more we can come to  rely on our knowledge. When we exercise what we know, it not only extends our  understanding of the truth but helps us take action in meaningful ways.

The more  we do, the more self-reliant we are.

Every achievement brings a wonderful dividend of confidence. We try greater  and greater ventures, until we are brave enough to accomplish undertakings far  beyond what the average person imagines. When we reach that level of consummate skill, it is a time of both celebration and extreme caution.

We are justified to  rejoice, for this is the level of ability that we have been striving so long and hard to  attain. It is also the time for caution because the foolish will eventually try something too great for them to handle. Pride and passion will lead to their downfall.

Therefore, the more accomplished one becomes, the more circumspect one  should be. The higher one’s skills, the more precarious one’s road. The most powerful followers of Tao are also among the most humble.

By veiling their light until  the proper moments, they escape the greatest danger of all: hubris.