Lao Tzu Quotes
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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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The sage acts by doing nothing.
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Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.
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Who can enjoy enlightenment and remain indifferent to suffering in the world? This is not in keeping with the Way. Only those who increase their service along with their understanding can be called men and women of Tao.
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The sage has no concern for himself, but makes the concerns of others his own.
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To be learned, add something each day. To be enlightened drop something each day.
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The Master's power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed. He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old.
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The one who is conscious (in Tao) can't speak. The one who can speak is not conscious (centered in Tao)
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In work, do what you enjoy.
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The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms.
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The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding.
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Nature does not have to insist.
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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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If the majority doesn't laugh at you, beware that you must be saying something wrong. When the majority thinks you are a fool, only then is there some possibility of you being a wise man.
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Who has excess and supplies the world? Only the one who follows the Way.
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Without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony.
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In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In daily life, be competent. In action, be aware of the time and the season.
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Who can rest until the moment of action?
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A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
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The wise leader settles for good work and then lets others have the floor.
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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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Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health.
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Where there is no conflict, there is no fault.
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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.