My words are very easy to understand,
very easy to put into practice.
Yet under heaven, none can understand them,
none can practice them.

My words have an ancestor;
my actions have a master.
It is because this is not understood
that I, too, am not understood.

Those who understand me are few;
those who follow me are precious.
Therefore, the sage wears coarse cloth,
while holding jade close to her heart.