Lao Tzu Quotes
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The liberation cannot be reached but by means of the perception of the identity of the individual spirit with the universal spirit.
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Giving birth and nourishing, Bearing yet not possessing, Working yet not taking credit, Leading yet not dominating, This is the Primal Virtue.
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If you can find true contentment, it will last forever.
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One who believes in himself has no need to convince others.
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The most difficult in the world must be easy in its beginning.
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Because he is a living divinity, when he acts, the universe acts.
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In ancient times, those who followed the Way did not try to give people knowledge thereof, but kept them ignorant.
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Going forward seems like retreat.
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What makes a kingdom great is its being like a down-flowing river,--the central point towards which all the smaller streams under Heaven converge; or like the female throughout the world, who by quiescence always overcomes the male. And quiescence is a form of humility.
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If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?
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If the sage wants to stand above people, he must speak to them from below. If he wants to lead people, he must follow them from behind.
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The good man is the teacher of the bad, And the bad is the material from which the good may learn. He who does not value the teacher, Or greatly care for the material, Is greatly deluded although he may be learned. Such is the essential mystery.
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The purest white seems stained.
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Peacefulness is an inner sense of calm - it comes from becoming still - in order to reflect and meditate on our inner wisdom and receive answers. A peaceful heart is one that is free from worry and rouble. It's becoming quiet so we can look at things quietly so we can more clearly understand them and thus come up with creative solutions. It is learning to live in the present. Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.
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Those who stay where they are will endure.
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We are all capable of much more than we think we are.
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Every step is on the path.
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Without desire there is stillness, and the world settles by itself.
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Tao is beyond words and beyond understanding. Words may be used to speak of it, but they cannot contain it. Tao existed before words and names, before heaven and earth, before the ten thousand things. It is the unlimited father and mother of all limited things. Therefore, to see beyond boundaries to the subtle heart of things, dispense with names, with concepts, with expectations and ambitions and differences. Tao and its many manifestations arise from the same source: subtle wonder within mysterious darkness. This is the beginning of all understanding.
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High and low rest on each other.
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Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.
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The most complete seems lacking. Yet in use it is not exhausted.
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Be empty. Be still. Just watch everything come and go. This is the way of Nature.
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When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the Way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not. When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.