Lao Tzu Quotes
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Practice not-doing and everything will fall into place.
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People aren't against you; they are for themselves. The most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later. He who conquers others is strong, he who conquers himself is mighty.
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Some help others in order to receive blessings and admiration. This is simply meaningless. Some cultivate themselves in part to serve others, in part to serve their own pride. They will understand, at best, half of the truth. But those who improve themselves for the sake of the world - to these, the whole truth of the universe will be revealed.
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Be content with an ordinary life.
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Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. Therefore the Master remains serene in the midst of sorrow. Evil cannot enter his heart. Because he has given up helping, he is people's greatest help. True words seem paradoxical.
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Find a teacher who is an integral being, a beacon who extends his light and virtue with equal ease to those who appreciate him and those who don't. Shape yourself in his mold, bathe in his nourishing radiance, and reflect it out to the rest of the world.
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Without going outside, you may know the whole world, without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven. The farther you go, the less you know. Thus the sage knows without traveling; he sees without looking; he works without doing.
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Although there are weapons for tens and hundreds of soldiers, they will not be used.
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Those who boast are not respected.
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Remember: if you can cease all restless activity, your integral nature will appear.
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. . . Intelligence is not the same thing as wisdom.
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Who can rest until the moment of action?
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People who have to fight for their living and are not afraid to die for it are higher persons than those who, stationed high, are too fat to dare to die.
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When bitter enemies make peace, surely some bitterness remains.
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There is no greater mistake than to make light of an enemy By making light of an enemy many a kingdom has been lost.
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Countless words count less than the silent balance between yin and yang
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Without stepping out the door, you can know the world.
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Keep your mouth shut, and close up the doors of sight and sound, and as long as you live you will have no vexation. But open your mouth, or become inquisitive, and you will be in trouble all your life long.
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What man has more than enough and gives it to the world? Only the man of Tao.
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The group will not prosper if the leader grabs the lion's share of the credit for the good work that has been done.
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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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If good happens, good; if bad happens, good.
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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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Movement overcomes cold.