Lao Tzu Quotes
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It is the child that sees the primordial secret in Nature and it is the child of ourselves we return to. The child within us is simple and daring enough to live the Secret.
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The ten thousand things flourish and then each returns to the root from which it came. Returning to the root is stillness. Through stillness each fulfils its destiny.
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All things carry yin and embrace yang. They reach harmony by blending with the vital breath.
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There is one appointed supreme executioner. Truly, trying to take the place of the supreme executioner is like trying to carve wood like a master carpenter. Of those who try to carve wood like a master carpenter, there are few who do not injure their hands.
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When people are unsettled, loyal ministers arise.
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If you correct your mind the rest of your life will fall into place.
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There was something that finished chaos, born before Heaven and Earth.
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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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Covetousness is the greatest misfortune. One who does not know what is enough will never have enough.
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An integral being knows without going, sees without looking, and accomplishes without doing.
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Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature.
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There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war.
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Those who praise themselves do not prevail.
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A tree trunk the size of a man grows from a blade as thin as a hair. A tower nine stories high is built from a small heap of earth.
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Use the light that is in you to recover your natural clearness of sight.
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Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.
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The sage does not strive to be great. Thereby he can accomplish the great.
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The wise trusts not only to his physical eyes - thus he can see clearly.
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A man is born gentle and weak. At death he is hard and stiff.
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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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Those who stand on their toes are not steady.
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The greatest revelation is stillness.
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The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Tao. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
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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.