Lao Tzu Quotes
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The greatest virtue is to follow the Way utterly.
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There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontent. And there is no greater disaster than greed.
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Holding on to the weak is called strength.
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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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If you never assume importance, you never lose it.
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Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you.
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Heaven's Way is like stretching a bow. The high is lowered and the low is raised. Excess is reduced and deficiency is replenished. Heaven's Way reduces excess and replenishes deficiency. People's Way is not so. They reduce the deficient and supply the excessive.
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A multitude of words is tiresome, unlike remaining centered.
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To know you have enough is to be rich.
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The more clever and cunning people are, the stranger the events will be.
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That which shrinks must first expand.
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To retreat after a work well done is Heaven's Way.
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When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.
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The high must make the low its base.
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We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
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Giving to others selflesly and anonymously, radiating light throughout the world and illuminating your own darkness, your virtue becomes a sanctuary for yourself and all beings.
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Use the light that is in you to recover your natural clearness of sight.
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Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.
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Displaying riches and titles with pride brings about one's downfall.
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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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Superior leaders get things done with very little motion. They impart instruction not through many words, but through a few deeds. They keep informed about everything but interfere hardly at all. They are catalysts, and though things would not get done as well if they were not there, when they succeed they take no credit. And, because they take no credit, credit never leaves them.
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Filling life exceedingly is called ominous.
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The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance. The Tao is ungraspable. How can her mind be at one with it? Because she doesn't cling to ideas. The Tao is dark and unfathomable. How can it make her radiant? Because she lets it. Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond is and is not. How do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see.
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The feminine values are the fountain of bliss. Know the masculine, Keep to the feminine.