Lao Tzu Quotes
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Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you.
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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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To retreat after a work well done is Heaven's Way.
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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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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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We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.
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Heavy is the root of light.
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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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Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?
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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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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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Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.
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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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The truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface.
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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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To know others is to have knowledge. To know yourself is to be enlightened.
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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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A good calculator does not need artificial aids.
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Stillness overcomes heat.
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Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice.