Lao Tzu Quotes
-
The more weapons of violence, the more misery to mankind. The triumph of violence ends in a festival of mourning.
-
Take [preventive] action before things happen. Establish order before disorder has begun.
-
Other people are occupied, I alone am unwilling, like the outcast.
-
Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness.
-
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.
-
The sage is sharp but does not cut, pointed but does not pierce, forthright but does not offend, bright but does not dazzle.
-
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.
-
The best soldiers are not warlike; the best fighters do not lose their temper. The greatest conquerors are those who overcome their enemies without strife. The greatest directors of men are those who yield place to others. This is called the Virtue of not striving, the capacity for directing mankind; this is being the compeer of Heaven. It was the highest goal of the ancients.
-
The river and the sea can be kings of a hundred valleys, because they lie below them.
-
The True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
-
The one who can dissolve her mind will suddenly discover the Tao at her feet.
-
Carrying body and soul and embracing the one, Can you avoid separation?
-
People starve. The rulers consume too much with their taxes. That is why people starve.
-
Be merciful, moderate, and modest.
-
The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer famine.
-
Must one dread what others dread?
-
. . . These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife, always chipping away at the Tao, trying to render it graspable and manageable. But that which is beyond form is ungraspable, and that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable. There is, however, this consolation: She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her fingertips.
-
There is a big misunderstanding about the idea of naturalness. Most people who come to us believing in some freedom or naturalness, but their understanding is what we call [heretical naturalness] ... a kind of "let-alone policy" or sloppiness... For a plant or stone to be natural is no problem. But for us there is some problem, indeed a big problem. To be natural is something we must work on.
-
The people starve because those above them eat too much tax-grain. That is the only reason why they starve.
-
Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world.
-
In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.
-
Therefore the Sage, wishing to be above the people, must by his words put himself below them; wishing to be before the people, he must put himself behind them. In this way, though he has his place above them, the people do not feel his weight; though he has his place before them, they do not feel it as an injury. Therefore all mankind delight to exalt him, and weary of him not.
-
The fourth (of the four cardinal virtues) is supportiveness: this manifests as service to others without expectation of reward. (Paraphrased: Such service is not a mere conforming to some external rule of behavior, but instead a manifestation of your original nature).
-
The sage does not attempt anything very big, and thus achieves greatness.