Lao Tzu Quotes
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In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle - this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly.
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Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return. Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity. If you don't realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready.
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The real art of governing consists, so far as possible, in doing nothing.
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In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart.
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When Simplicity is broken up, it is made into instruments. Evolved individuals who employ them, are made into leaders. In this way, the Great System is United.
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A brave and passionate man will kill or be killed. A brave and calm man will always preserve life. Of these two which is good and which is harmful?
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Heaven and Earth last for ever. Why do Heaven and Earth last for ever? They are unborn, so ever living. The sage stays behind, thus he is ahead. He is detached, thus at one with all. Through selfless action, he attains fulfillment.
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When two opposing sides meet in battle, the one without an enemy will be victorious.
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Yielding, like ice about to melt.
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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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When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.
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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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In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
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The sage desires no desire, does not value rare treasures, learns without learning, recovers what people have left behind.
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Knowing constancy, the mind is open. With an open mind, you will be openhearted. Being openhearted you will act royally. Being royal, you will attain the divine. Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao. Being at one with the Tao is eternal. Though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.
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He who acts, spoils; he who grasps, lets slip.
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Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.
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Throw away profit and greed, and there won't be any thieves.
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. . . the integral being is attached to nothing and can relate to everyone with an unstructured attitude. Because of this, her very existence benefits all things.
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Everything will settle in its own place automatically.
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The forceful and violent will not die from natural causes.
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The mark of a moderate man is freedom from his own ideas. Tolerant like the sky, all-pervading like sunlight, firm like a mountain, supple like a tree in the wind, he has no destination in view and makes use of anything life happens to bring his way.
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The way to use life is to do nothing through acting, The way to use life is to do everything through being.
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Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; It is the holes which make it useful. Therefore benefit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there.