Lao Tzu Quotes
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Build up virtue, and you master all.
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Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath.
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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 praise themselves do not prevail.
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Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.
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The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.
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But in the present day men cast off gentleness, and are all for being bold; they spurn frugality, and retain only extravagance; they discard humility, and aim only at being first. Therefore they shall surely perish.
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Filling life exceedingly is called ominous.
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The value of teaching without words and accomplishing without action is understood by few in the world.
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When the great Tao is forgotten, goodness and piety appear. When the body's intelligence declines, cleverness and knowledge step forth. When there is no peace in the family, filial piety begins. When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born.
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Stillness is the ruler of haste.
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Open yourself to the truth, then trust in your natural responses, and everything will fall into place.
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Be truly whole, and all things will return to you.
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A skillful commander is not overbearing. A skillful fighter does not become angry. A skillful conqueror does not compete with people. One who is skillful in using men puts himself below them. This is called the strength to use men. This is called matching Heaven, The highest principle of old.
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A good calculator does not need artificial aids.
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Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world. Without looking out your window, you can see the essence of the Tao. The more you know, the less you understand. The Master arrives without leaving, sees the light without looking, achieves without doing a thing.
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If you close your mind in judgements and traffic with desires, your heart will be troubled. If you keep your mind from judging and aren't led by the senses, your heart will find peace.
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He who possess virtue in abundance may be compared to an infant.
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To know others is to have knowledge. To know yourself is to be enlightened.
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What Heaven detests, who knows why? Even the sage considers it difficult.
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Heavy is the root of light.
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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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We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.
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Stillness overcomes heat.