Lao Tzu Quotes
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I do not interfere, and people become rich by themselves.
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Having reached a high level of realization (or having accomplished anything in life), don't get excited or puffed up with pride but remain calm, humble, and in "perfect equanimity" if you want to continue in this deep state of consciousness.
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True words aren't eloquent; eloquent words aren't true. Wise men don't need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren't wise. The Master has no possessions. The more he does for others, the happier he is. The more he gives to others, the wealthier he is. The Tao nourishes by not forcing. By not dominating, the Master leads.
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If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart.
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The truest sayings are paradoxical.
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Thus it is that "Some things are increased by being diminished, others are diminished by being increased." What others have taught, I also teach; verily, I will make it the root of my teaching.
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I do not act, and people become reformed by themselves.
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The female always surpasses the male with stillness. In her stillness she is yielding.
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All things issue from it; all things return to it. To find the origin, trace back the manifestations. When you recognize the children and find the mother, you will be free of sorrow. If you close your mind in judgements and traffic with desires, your heart will be troubled. If you keep your mind from judging and aren't led by the senses, your heart will find peace. Seeing into darkness is clarity. Knowing how to yield is strength. Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity.
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Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.
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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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A good speaker does not stutter.
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Activity conquers coldness. Stillness conquers heat.
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The whole world says that my Way is great like nothing else. It is great because it is like nothing else. If it were like everything else, it would long ago have become insignificant.
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Whoever is capable of knowing when they have had enough will always be satisfied.
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Do not conquer the world with force, for force only causes resistance. Thorns spring up when an army passes. Years of misery follow a great victory. Do only what needs to be done without using violence.
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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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Can you gather your vital breath and yet be tender like a newborn baby?
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When you accurately perceive the fluidity of things, you can also begin to perceive the constancy behind them: the creative, transformative, boundless, immutable Tao.
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Understanding others is knowledge, Understanding oneself is enlightenment; Conquering others is power, Conquering oneself is strength.
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That the soft overcomes the hard, and the yielding overcomes the resistant, is a fact known by all, but practiced by few.
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Return animosity with virtue.
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Heaven's Way gives no favors. It always remains with good people.
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A climb of eight hundred feet starts where the foot stands.