Lao Tzu Quotes
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Those who are content suffer no disgrace.
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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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The wise man puts himself last and finds himself first.
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Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.
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Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.
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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 more clever and cunning people are, the stranger the events will be.
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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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There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war.
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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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Holding on to the weak is called strength.
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Conduct your triumph as a funeral.
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Though (the Tao) is uncreated itself, it creates all things. Because it has no substance, it can enter into where there is no space. Exercising by returning to itself, winning victories by remaining gentle and yielding, it is softer than anything, and therefore overcomes everything hard.
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The superior leader keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all.
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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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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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We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
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Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.
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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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He who possess virtue in abundance may be compared to an infant.