Lao Tzu Quotes
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Not all spiritual paths lead to the harmonious Oneness. Indeed, most are detours and distractions, nothing more.
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A good counter needs no calculator.
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There is no greater fault than sensual indulgence. There is no greater misfortune than malcontent. There is no greater calamity than greed.
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When many people are killed, they should be mourned and lamented. Those who are victorious in war should follow the rites of funerals.
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Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
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Battles are followed by years of famine.
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Nature's way is simple and easy, but men prefer the intricate and artificial.
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What is well rooted cannot be pulled up. What is firmly grasped will not slip loose. It will be honoured from generation to generation.
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There is no greater disaster than discontent.
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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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The best form of leadership is to be conscious of the leadership potential with the followers and to let them unleash this potential in a spontaneous way. When a great leader accomplishes this task with effortless ease, the followers say, "We did it ourselves."
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When the Way governs the world, the proud stallions drag dung carriages. When the Way is lost to the world, war horses are bred outside the city.
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The way is light and fluid for the man with no preferences.
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Have patience. Wait until the mud settles and the water is clear. Remain unmoving until right action arises by itself.
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The brittle is easy to shatter.
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A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
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When one gives whatever one can without restraint, the barriers of individuality break down. It no longer becomes possible to tell whether it is the student offering himself to the teacher, or the teacher offering herself to the student. One sees only two immaculate beings, reflecting one another like a pair of brilliant mirrors.
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Why did the ancients praise the Way? Did they not say it was because you find what you seek and are saved from your wrongdoings?
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When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating.
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Why is the sea king of a hundred streams? Because it lies below them... If the sage would guide the people, he must serve with humility. If he would lead them, he must follow behind. In this way when the sage rules, the people will not feel oppressed.
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Because of deep love, one is courageous. Because of frugality, one is generous. Because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the world.
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Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Be still and allow the mud to settle.
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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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Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.