Lao Tzu Quotes
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The value of actions lies in their timing.
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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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When equal armies battle, the grieving one will be victorious.
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Let muddy water stand and it will become clear.
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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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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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The value comes from what is there, but the use comes from what is not there.
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Act without doing; work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many. Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. The Master never reaches for the great; thus she achieves greatness. When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it. She doesn't cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her.
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...The sage, traveling all day, Does not lose sight of his baggage. Though there are beautiful things to be seen, He remains unattached and calm.
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Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.
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Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.
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Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
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The sage wears coarse clothes, concealing jade.
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Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?
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Therefore the Sage embraces Unity, and is a model for all under Heaven. He is free from self-display, therefore he shines forth; from self-assertion, therefore he is distinguished; from self-glorification, therefore he has merit; from self-exaltation, therefore he rises superior to all. Inasmuch as he does not strive, there is no one in the world who can strive with him.
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The first practice is the practice of undiscriminating virtue: take care of those who are deserving; also, and equally, take care of those who are not. When you extend your virtue in all directions without discriminating, you feet are firmly planted on the path that returns to the Tao.
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The brittle is easy to shatter.
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Can you open and close the gate of Heaven and act like a woman?
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The virtuous carry out the settlement, but those without virtue pursue their claims.
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The sage acts by doing nothing.
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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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The Master doesn't seek fulfillment. For only those who are not full are able to be used which brings the feeling of completeness.
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That which offers no resistance can enter where there is no space.
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Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.