Lao Tzu Quotes
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Abandon benevolence, discard duty, and people will return to the family ties.
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My words have an origin. My deeds have a sovereign. Truly, because people do not understand this, they do not understand me.
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From now back to antiquity, its (Tao's) name has not been lost. Thereby, see the origin of all.
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To rejoice in conquest is to rejoice in murder.
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ALL things in Nature work silently. They come into being and possess nothing. They fulfil their functions and make no claim.
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The superior leader keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all.
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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 Tao is unpredictable to those that live according to plans. Only those who have no agenda are in harmony with the Tao.
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To retreat after a work well done is Heaven's Way.
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The wise man puts himself last and finds himself first.
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Use the light that is in you to recover your natural clearness of sight.
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The softest of stuff in the world, penetrates quickly the hardest, insubstantial, it enters where there is no room.
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The inner is the foundation of the outer. The still is master of the restless. The Sage travels all day yet never leaves his inner treasure.
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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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The more clever and cunning people are, the stranger the events will be.
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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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Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.
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The high must make the low its base.
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Conduct your triumph as a funeral.
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When the ancient Masters said, "If you want to be given everything, give everything up," they weren't using empty phrases. Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.
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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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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.