Lao Tzu Quotes
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Be the chief but never the lord.
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So the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants.
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He who, conscious of being strong, is content to be weak, he shall be the paragon of mankind. Being the paragon of mankind, Virtue will never desert him. He returns to the state of a little child.
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When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other. Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever.
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The ancient Masters didn't try to educate the people, but kindly taught them to not-know. When they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guide. When they know that they don't know, people can find their own way. If you want to learn how to govern, avoid being clever or rich. The simplest pattern is the clearest. Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature.
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He who walks on tip-toe does not walk on solid ground.
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Geese are white, crows are black. No argument will change this.
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The sage does not act and therefore does not fail, does not seize and therefore does not lose.
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If a great country yields to a small country, it will conquer the small country. If a small country yields to a great country, it will be conquered by the great country.
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If you practice inaction, nothing will be left undone: For the way to acquire lordship over society is by invariably not interfering.
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Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves.
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If a person seems wicked, do not cast him away. Awaken him with your words, elevate him with your deeds, repay his injury with your kindness. Do not cast him away; cast away his wickedness.
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Act without striving. Work without interfering. Find the flavour in what is flavourless.
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The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honours.
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Things flourish, then each returns to its root. Returning to the root is called stillness: Stillness is called return to life, return to life is called the constant; knowing the constant is called enlightenment.
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When the government is quite unobtrusive, people are indeed pure. When the government is quite prying, people are indeed conniving.
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Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.
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Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can. I wish you Happy New Year and diary full of best stories ever written in your life.
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Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.
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Thirty spokes meet in the hub. Where a wheel isn't is where it's useful. Hollowed out, clay makes a pot. Where the pots not is where it's useful. Cut doors and windows to make a room. Where the room isn't, there's room for you. So the profit in what is, is in the use of what isn't.
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People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.
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Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.
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He who regards the world as he does the fortune of his own body can govern the world. He who loves the world as he does his own body can be entrusted with the world.
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From wonder into wonder existence opens.