Lao Tzu Quotes
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Knowing the future is the flower of the Way, and the beginning of folly.
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Lightly given promises must meet with little trust.
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Greed for enlightenment and immortality is no different than greed for material wealth. It is self-centered and dualistic, and thus an obstacle to true attainment. Therefore these states are never achieved by those who covet them; rather, they are the reward of the virtuous.
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Wise travelers always stop short before they come to danger.
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It (Tao) is eternally without desire. So, it can be called small. All things return to it, although it does not make itself their ruler. So, it can be called great.
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Try to change it and you will ruin it. Try to hold it and you will lose it.
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The most difficult in the world must be easy in its beginning.
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Going forward seems like retreat.
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So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind; Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily; Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness; Sometimes one is up and sometimes down. Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and complacency.
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A good traveler leaves no tracks. Good speech lacks fault-finding.
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Letting the mind control the vital breath is called force.
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If you can find true contentment, it will last forever.
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Without going outside, you may know the whole world!
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Appetite for food and sex is nature.
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Water does not force its way.
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In ancient times, people said that imperfect moves to becoming perfect. Are these words vain? No! Truly, by gaining Unity you come to Perfection!
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If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart.
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From What-is all the world of things was born But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.
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The transformation toward eternal life is gradual. The heavy gross energy of body, mind, and spirit must first be purified and uplifted. When the energy ascends... then self mastery can be sought.
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Loving, hating, having expectations: all these are attachments. Attachment prevents the growth of one's true being.
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When goodness is lost, it is replaced by morality.
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Praise leads to weakness. Getting it causes fear, losing it causes fear.
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Why not simply honor your parents, love your children, help your brothers and sisters, be faithful to your friends, care for your mate with devotion, complete your work cooperatively and joyfully, assume responsibility for problems, practice virtue without first demanding it of others, understand the highest truths yet retain an ordinary manner? That would be true clarity, true simplicity, true mastery.
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As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by. We have a hundred alternatives, a thousand paths and an infinity of dreams. Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go; hopeless, we are lost forever.