Noninterference is not really possible unless one has dissipated the fog of expectations and desires that keeps one from experiencing the world as it is in itself (Tao), and the judgment that “something must be done” is usually part of that fog.

What might be seen as a corollary of “doing nothing” is knowing when to stop. Thus the man who abides in the Tao never wants to reach an extreme and, knowing the right time to stop, is free from danger. Nature, here including man, is a succession of alternations: when one extreme is reached a reversal occurs, as with such natural phenomena as day-night and summer-winter.

A more common interpretation of wei-wu-wei sees it as action which does not force but yields. Rather than being a version of doing nothing, this might be called “the action of passivity.” Under the weight of a heavy snowfall, pine branches break off, but by bending, the willow can drop its burden and spring up again.

An apparent corollary of this (parallel to the corollary mentioned earlier) is that a very slight action may be enough to have extraordinary results, if done at the right time. This is “contemplating the difficult with the easy, working on the great with the small”. In particular, one should deal with potentially big problems before they become big; the growth of the sapling is easy to affect, but not that of a mature tree. Both of these points seem undeniable, if limited, truisms; the challenge is knowing when and how to apply them.