1. A saint brings great misfortunes and benefits without reason.
From "Warring States Policy·Zhao Ce". The sage believes that gaining without reason will definitely lead to disaster.
2. Forgiving others is a blessing, bullying others is a disaster.
From "Encouragement" by Lu Yan: Forgiving others will bring blessings, but bullying others will bring disaster.
3. Those whose salary exceeds their merits will suffer losses; those whose reputations exceed their real merits will be diminished. If the sentiments and actions are consistent and the people do not follow them, the misfortunes and blessings are not in vain.
From "Shuo Yuan·Politics". When the salary exceeds the merit, it should be reduced. If his reputation outweighs his reality, he should be weakened. The actual situation should be consistent with the title, and blessings and misfortunes will not come without reason.
4. A blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise.
From "Huainanzi· Human World Training". Things in the world will transform under certain conditions. Bad things can turn into good things, and good things can turn into bad things.
5. When misfortunes come, blessings depend on them; when blessings come, misfortunes fall upon them.
From "The Tao Te Ching·Chapter 58". Happiness relies on disaster, and disaster is also hidden in happiness.
6. There is no greater disaster than dissatisfaction; no greater fault than desire. Therefore, knowing what is enough is always enough.
From "Tao Te Ching·Chapter 46". There is no greater evil than dissatisfaction. There is no greater mistake than greed. So know when to be satisfied and you will always be happy.
7. Blessings are better than no disasters.
From "Xunzi Encouraging Learning". There is nothing happier than the absence of disaster.
8. Blessings arise from ambiguity, while disasters arise from complacency.
From Liu Xiang's "Shuoyuan·Jingshen" in the Han Dynasty. Happiness will come when people are in poverty. And disaster will always come when people are complacent.
9. A gentleman can do good, but he will not necessarily receive blessings; he cannot bear to do wrong, but he will not necessarily avoid disaster.
From "Huainanzi·Miao Chengxun". A gentleman can do good things, but he may not be happy because of it. Although we cannot bear to do bad things, we may not be able to avoid disasters because of this.
10. It is harmless for others to defeat me, and they have no grudges; it is not a blessing for me to defeat others, and I may suffer unexpected disasters.
From "The Story of a Small Window". It doesn't hurt that someone else is better than me, so that he doesn't feel resentful towards me. If I am better than others, I may not be blessed, because I may suffer unpredictable disasters.