Lao Tzu Quotes
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The world is ruled by letting things take their course. It cannot be ruled by interfering.
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The sage does not attempt anything very big, and thus achieves greatness.
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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).
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The river and the sea can be kings of a hundred valleys, because they lie below them.
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. . . 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.
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Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river.
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Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world.
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Who can wait in stillness while the mud settles?
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In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
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Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity.
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In order to eliminate the negative influences, simply ignore them.
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The best people are like water, which benefits all things and does not compete with them. It stays in lowly places that others reject. This is why it is so similar to the Way.
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The forceful and violent will not die from natural causes.
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The hard and stiff are death's companions. The soft and weak are life's companions.
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Those who know when it is enough will not perish.
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If princes and kings were not exalted they might be overthrown.
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The scholar gains every day; the man of Tao loses every day.
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Heaven's Way does not contend, yet it certainly triumphs. It does not speak, yet it certainly answers. It does not summon, yet things come by themselves. It seems to be at rest, yet it certainly has a plan.
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Excellent warriors are not violent.
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When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.
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He who loves does not dispute: He who disputes does not love.
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If you search everywhere, yet cannot find what you are seeking, it is because what you seek is already in your possession.
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If Heaven were not clear it might rend. If Earth were not firm it might crumble.
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Must one dread what others dread?