Lao Tzu Quotes
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The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
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The more we give to others, the more we are increased.
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I observe myself and I come to know others.
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People are born soft and weak. They die hard and stiff.
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If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.
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If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
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A violent wind does not outlast the morning; a squall of rain does not outlast the day. Such is the course of Nature. And if Nature herself cannot sustain her efforts long, how much less can man!
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We put thirty spokes to make a wheel: But it is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges. We make a vessel from a lump of clay; But it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful. We make doors and windows for a room; But it is the empty spaces that make the room livable. Thus, while existence has advantages, It is the emptiness that makes it useful.
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I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.
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Dignified, like a guest.
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He who steals a hook shall be hanged; while he who steals the state shall be crowned as prince.
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To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.
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Give up your relentless moralizing, the continual pinpricks which pierce the skin of your fellows. The distinction between good and evil is the sickness of the mind. Give up your morals, and the people will regain a love of their fellows.
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Profound virtue is indeed deep and wide. It leads all things back to the great order.
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Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.
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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.
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Life is going forth; death is returning home.
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Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it.
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Simply see that you are at the center of the universe, and accept all things and beings as parts of your infinite body. When you perceive that an act done to another is done to yourself, you have understood the great truth.
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People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.
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He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.
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The fish cannot leave the deep waters. The state's weaponry should not be displayed.
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Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.
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The best way to live / is to be like water / For water benefits all things / and goes against none of them.