The Tao Te Ching is charming and thought-provoking, even if some of it is completely obscure and still other parts constituting some unsound advice. According to legend (this is what the introduction stated), Lao Tsu, fed up with the ways of men, was getting ready to ride off and live alone when someone asked him to leave a record of his wisdom; the Tao Te Ching was the result. The attachment of this legend to Lao Tsu is strange because the Tao Te Ching appears to be advice for how to lead a spiritual life in an ordinary world and not a promotion for living a solitary life apart from other people. For a bit of the work, look at 45:

Great accomplishment seems imperfect,
Yet it does not outlive its usefulness.
Great fulness seems empty,
Yet it cannot be exhausted.

Great straightness seems twisted.
Great intelligence seems stupid.
Great eloquence seems awkward.

Movement overcomes cold.
Stillness overcomes heat.
Stillness and tranquility set things in order in the universe.

Later, Lao Tsu writes, "The truth often sounds paradoxical" (78). I have nothing else to write about this.