Lao Tzu Quotes
-
Everything in the universe is created from something, which in turn is created from nothing.
-
Without going outside, you may know the whole world!
-
There are many paths to enlightenment. Be sure to take the one with a heart.
-
Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit, and there won't be any thieves. If these three aren't enough, just stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course.
-
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.
-
To know and not to do is not yet to know.
-
Excellent soldiers are not furious.
-
Without desire there is stillness, and the world settles by itself.
-
Be empty. Be still. Just watch everything come and go. This is the way of Nature.
-
The Way of Tao is this: It strives not, but conquers; It speaks not, but all is made clear; It summons not, but its house is crowded; It contrives not, but the design is perfect.
-
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.
-
By following this simple path, you become extraordinary, unfathomable, a being of profound cosmic subtlety. You outlive time and space by realizing the subtle truth of the universe.
-
See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things.
-
Behave simply and hold on to purity.
-
All things of the world are born of being; being is born of nonbeing.
-
He who knows he has enough is rich.
-
The Great Vessel takes long to complete.
-
If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?
-
Look, and it can't be seen. Listen, and it can't be heard. Reach, and it can't be grasped. Above, it isn't bright. Below, it isn't dark. Seamless, unnamable, it returns to the realm of nothing. Form that includes all forms, image without an image, subtle, beyond all conception. Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it and there is no end. You can't know it, but you can be it, at ease in your own life. Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of wisdom.
-
Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.
-
Praise of power leads to weakness; Love of things leads to loss; The wise one leads by filling people's hearts; He destroys illusion and disturbs those who believe they are wise; He does nothing yet everything happens.
-
Those who stay where they are will endure.
-
Those who act will fail. Those who seize will lose.
-
All things such as grass and trees are soft and supple in life. At their death they are withered and dry.