Lao Tzu Quotes
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All things in nature work silently. They come into being and possess nothing. They fulfill their function and make no claim. All things alike do their work, and then we see them subside. When they have reached their bloom, each returns to its origin. . . . This reversion is an eternal law. To know that law is wisdom.
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The way is light and fluid for the man with no preferences.
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Pounding an edge to sharpness will not make it last.
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The light of the Way seems dim.
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Who has excess and supplies the world? Only the one who follows the Way.
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...the more you talk of it, the less you understand.
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Peace and quiet are preferred. Victory should not be praised.
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Where there is no conflict, there is no fault.
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The best of all teachers is the one who helps people so that eventually they don't need him.
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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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A great country is like the lower outlet of a river. It is the world's meeting ground, the world's female.
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When equal armies battle, the grieving one will be victorious.
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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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Dualistic thinking is a sickness.
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With virtue and quietness one may conquer the world.
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Without stepping out the door, you can know the world.
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He who is attached to things will suffer much.
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The best way to manage anything is by making use of its own nature.
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Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short and long, life and death? Can you let go of all these dualities and embrace the Tao without skepticism or panic? If so, you can reach the heart of the Integral Oneness.
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A good mooring needs no knot, still no one can untie it.
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The sage never strives for the great, and thereby the great is achieved.
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Those who praise victory relish manslaughter. Those who relish manslaughter cannot reach their goals in the world.
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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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Only I am clumsy, like drifting on the waves of the sea, without direction.