Lao Tzu Quotes
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Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.
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The Tao of the sage is work without effort.
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Battles are followed by years of famine.
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(The Tao) is always present and always available. . . . If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things.
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A tree as wide as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.
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Do not fear the aging of the body for it is the body's way of seeking the root.
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The leader's main job is to make themselves obsolete.
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By steadily disciplining the animal nature, until it becomes one pointed, it is possible to establish conscious awareness of The Eternal.
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Peace is our natural state of being.
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The Tao doesn't take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil. The Master doesn't take sides; she welcomes both saints and sinners. The Tao is like a bellows: it is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it, the less you understand. Hold on to the center.
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Other people are joyous, like on the feast of the ox, like on the way up to the terrace in the spring. I alone am inert, giving no sign, like a newborn baby who has not learned to smile.
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The highest benevolence acts without purpose.
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The sage regards things as difficult, and thereby avoids difficulty.
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The master understands that the universe is forever out of control.
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Its name-what passes not away.
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Nature does not have to insist.
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Practice non-action. Work without doing.
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Failure is an opportunity. If you blame someone else, there is no end to the blame. Therefore the Master fulfills her own obligations and corrects her own mistakes. She does what she needs to do and demands nothing of others.
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Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.
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I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy; the second is economy. The third is daring not to be ahead of others. From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity; From humility comes leadership.