Lao Tzu Quotes
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Returning to the source is serenity.
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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.
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The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem.
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He who holds balance...has attained the highest post in the world.
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The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. The more weapons you have, the less secure people will be. The more subsidies you have, the less self reliant people will be.
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Searching for precious goods leads astray.
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Of the best rulers, The people only know that they exist; the next best they love and praise the next they fear; and the next they revile. When they do not command the people's faith, some will lose faith in them, and then they resort to oaths! But of the best when their task is accomplished, their work done, the people all remark, We have done it ourselves.
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He who knows others is clever; He who knows himself has discernment.
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Attain utmost emptiness. Abide in steadfast stillness.
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The greatest virtue is to follow the Way utterly.
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If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.
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Prepare for the difficult while it is still easy. Deal with the big while it is still small. Difficult undertakings have always started with what easy. Great undertakings always started with what is small. Therefore the sage never strives for the great,And thereby the great is achieved.
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Weapons are ominous tools. They are abhorred by all creatures. Anyone who follows the Way shuns them.
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Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.
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When everyone sees good, then bad exists.
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Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.
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In the Golden Age, Rulers were unknown. In the following age Rulers were loved and praised. Next came the age When rulers were feared. Finally the age When rulers are hated.
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The great Way is all-pervading. It reaches to the left and to the right. All things depend on it with their existence. Still it demands no obedience.
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Favor and disgrace are like fear. Favor is in a higher place, and disgrace in a lower place. When you win them you are like being in fear, and when you lose them you are also like being in fear. So favor and disgrace are like fear.
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First, we must do our own personal work, then we tend the necessary work of our family, then our community, then the world.
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All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.
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The wise man looks back into the past, and does not grieve over what is far off, nor rejoice over what is near; for he knows that time is without end.
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Nature is not human hearted.
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There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontent. And there is no greater disaster than greed.