Lao Tzu Quotes
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Softness triumphs over hardness, feebleness over strength. What is more malleable is always superior over that which is immoveable. This is the principle of controlling things by going along with them, of mastery through adaptation.
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He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.
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The wise stand out because they see themselves as part of the Whole. They shine because they don't want to impress. They achieve great things because they don't look for recognition. Their wisdom is contained in what they are, not their opinions. They refuse to argue, so no-one argues with them.
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Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle. A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
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I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.
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The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
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The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.
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He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
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For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.
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A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
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He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
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To lead people walk behind them.
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Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.
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The sage is not ill, because he sees illness as illness.
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The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.
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The Way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.
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To become learned, each day add something. To become enlightened, each day drop something.
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He who knows himself is enlightened.
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To realize that our knowledge is ignorance, This is a noble insight. To regard our ignorance as knowledge, This is mental sickness. Only when we are sick of the sickness Shall we cease to be sick. The Sage is not sick, being sick of sickness; This is the secret of health.
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Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
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There was something undifferentiated and yet complete, which existed before Heaven and Earth. Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change. It operates everywhere and is free from danger. It may be considered the mother of the universe. I do not know its name; I call it Tao.
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A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
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Heaven is long-enduring, and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves.
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Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.