Lao Tzu Quotes
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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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When the highest type of people hear Tao (Truth), they diligently practice it. When the average type of people hear Tao, they half believe in it. When the lowest type of people hear Tao, they laugh at it. If they did not laugh, it would not be Tao.
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The sage acts without taking credit. He accomplishes without dwelling on it. He does not want to display his worth.
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When the hares have all been caught, the hunting dogs are cooked.
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Treat the large as the small and the few as the many.
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If people do not revere the Law of Nature It will adversely affect them. If they accept It with knowledge and reverence, It will accommodate them with balance and harmony.
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Nature doesn't make long speeches.
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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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The man of knowledge acquires something new everyday, and the man of Tao lets go of something new every day.
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The best fighter is never angry.
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Build up virtue, and you master all.
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Displaying riches and titles with pride brings about one's downfall.
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He who has no faith in others shall find no faith in them.
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If you search everywhere, yet cannot find what you are seeking, it is because what you seek is already in your possession.
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Wise men hear and see as little children do.
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A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. Thus by nature's own decree, the soft and gentle are triumphant.
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Not valuing wealth prevents theft.
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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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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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Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath.
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Conduct your triumph as a funeral.
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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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The sage attends to the belly, and not to what he sees.
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Things exalted then decay. This is going against the Way. What goes against the Way meets an early end.