Lao Tzu Quotes
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Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right.
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Nature doesn't make long speeches.
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Nature is not human hearted.
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If you see what is small as it sees itself, and accept what is weak for what strength it has, and use what is dim for the light it gives then all will go well. This is called Acting Naturally.
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We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use.
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To consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men; and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom.
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When the Way is lost there is virtue. When virtue is lost there is benevolence. When benevolence is lost there is righteousness. When righteousness is lost there are rituals.
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Therefore, if a great kingdom humbles itself before a small kingdom, it shall make that small kingdom its prize. And if a small kingdom humbles itself before a great kingdom, it shall win over that great kingdom. Thus the one humbles itself in order to attain, the other attains because it is humble. If the great kingdom has no further desire than to bring men together and to nourish them, the small kingdom will have no further desire than to enter the service of the other. But in order that both may have their desire, the great one must learn humility.
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The sage attends to the belly, and not to what he sees.
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Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.
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When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
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In the Golden Age, Rulers were unknown. In the following age Rulers were loved and praised. Next came the age When rulers were feared. Finally the age When rulers are hated.
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Whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. What is soft is strong.
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The separate parts make no carriage.
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Be humble and you will remain entire. The sages do not display themselves, therefore they shine. They do not approve themselves, therefore they are noted. They do not praise themselves, therefore they have merit. They do not glory in themselves, therefore they excel.
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Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.
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He who has no faith in others shall find no faith in them.
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If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.
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Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.
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Wise men hear and see as little children do.
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Abandon benevolence, discard duty, and people will return to the family ties.
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The mature person perceives the fruitlessness of rigid, external methodologies.
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Yet mystery and imagination arise from the same source. This source is called darkness ... Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding.
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The well-run group is not a battlefield of egos.