You can learn more with your ears open and your mouth shut than the other way around.

– variously ascribed.

…

Giving birth and nourishing,

having without possessing,

acting with no expectations,

leading and not trying to control:

this is the supreme virtue.

– Lao Tzu, 600 B.C.

…

Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.

– Confucius

…

Only the mediocre man is always at his best.

– Variously ascribed