Lao Tzu Quotes
-
Act without striving. Work without interfering. Find the flavour in what is flavourless.
-
Words spoken about the Way have no taste. When looked at, there's not enough to see. When listened to, there's not enough to hear. When used, it is never exhausted.
-
Obscure, like muddy waters.
-
I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.
-
The more we give to others, the more we are increased.
-
The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
-
Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the various creatures as straw dogs; the sage is ruthless, and treats others as straw dogs.
-
Keeping plenty of gold and jade in the palace makes no one able to defend it.
-
New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.
-
When the government is quite unobtrusive, people are indeed pure. When the government is quite prying, people are indeed conniving.
-
Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.
-
Those who are unswerving have resolve.
-
When the Way is lost there is virtue. When virtue is lost there is benevolence. When benevolence is lost there is righteousness. When righteousness is lost there are rituals.
-
If you go searching for the Great Creator, you will come back empty-handed. The source of the universe is ultimately unknowable, a great invisible river flowing forever through a vast and fertile valley. Silent and uncreated, it creates all things.
-
Filling life exceedingly is called ominous.
-
When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.
-
Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.
-
Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know. Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity. Be like the Tao. It can't be approached or withdrawn from, benefited or harmed, honored or brought into disgrace. It gives itself up continually. That is why it endures.
-
Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.
-
The best soldiers are not warlike; the best fighters do not lose their temper. The greatest conquerors are those who overcome their enemies without strife. The greatest directors of men are those who yield place to others. This is called the Virtue of not striving, the capacity for directing mankind; this is being the compeer of Heaven. It was the highest goal of the ancients.