Lao Tzu Quotes
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Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.
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If you have really attained wholeness, everything will flock to you.
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Thorn bushes grow where armies have camped.
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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.
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Use justice to rule a country. Use surprise to wage war. Use non-action to govern the world.
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The brittle is easy to shatter.
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Practice non-action. Work without doing.
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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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Hold on to the great image, and the whole world follows, follows unharmed, content and completely at peace.
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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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(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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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 True Person benefits yet expects no reward, does the work and moves on. There is no desire to be considered better than others.
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Being satisfied with little, you can gain much. Seeking much you will go astray. The wise heeds this precept. If it could be so with all people!
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When everyone in the world sees beauty, then ugly exists.
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Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.
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The sage regards things as difficult, and thereby avoids difficulty.
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Good words shall gain you honor in the marketplace, but good deeds shall gain you friends among men.
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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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That which offers no resistance can enter where there is no space.