Lao Tzu Quotes
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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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Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength.
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A tree as wide as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.
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Although there are weapons for tens and hundreds of soldiers, they will not be used.
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I alone am different from the others, because I am nourished by the great mother.
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When you are one with loss, the loss is experienced willingly.
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Those who have compassion when they do battle will be victorious. Those who likewise defend themselves will be safe. Heaven will rescue and protect them with compassion.
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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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A man's excellence is like that of water; It benefits all things without striving; It takes to the low places shunned by men. Water is akin to Tao. . . . In all the earth nothing weaker than water, Yet in attacking the hard, nothing superior, Nothing so certain in wearing down strength: There is no way to resist it. Note then: The weak conquer the strong, The yielding outlast the aggressors.
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What honor can there be without humility? What heights can be reached without being low? The pieces of a chariot are useless unless the work in accordance with the whole A man's life brings nothing unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe Playing one's part in accordance with the universe is true humility So whether you're a gem in the royal court or a stone on the common path If you accept your part with humility the glory of the universe will be yours.
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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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I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes as common as the grass.
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We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see, but these things are only the effects of something subtle.
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Racing through the field and hunting make the mind wild.
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To bear the country's disgrace is to rule the shrines of soil and grain. To bear the country's misfortunes is to be the king of the world.
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If you overesteem great men, people become powerless. If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal. The Master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their cores, by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve. He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire, and creates confusion in those who think that they know. Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.
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Whatever one cultivates, is what one becomes.
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You cannot know the body by studying the finger, and you cannot understand the universe by learning one science.
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Don't think you can attain total awareness and whole enlightenment without proper discipline and practice. This is egomania. Appropriate rituals channel your emotions and life energy toward the light. Without the discipline to practice them, you will tumble constantly backward into darkness.
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Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy. Act on large issues while they are small.
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Solve it before it happens. Order it before chaos emerges.
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The wise person dines on something more subtle: He eats the understanding that the named was born from the unnamed, that all being flows from non-being, that the describable world emanates from an indescribable source.
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There is no illusion great than fear.
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The softest in the world surpasses the hardest in the world.