Laozi Quotes

People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.

Not valuing wealth prevents theft.

. . . the mind is desperate to fix the river {of events} in place: Possessed by ideas of the past, preoccupied with images of the future, it overlooks the plain truth of the moment.

Become totally empty Quiet the restlessness of the mind Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness

Movement overcomes cold.

No disaster is worse than being discontented.

The Master doesn't seek fulfillment. For only those who are not full are able to be used which brings the feeling of completeness.

Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.

Nurture the spontaneous peaceful life.

Force is followed by loss of strength. This is not the way of the Tao. That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.

The world's big things only can be done by paying attention to their humble beginnings.

If you correct your mind the rest of your life will fall into place.

The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao.

A sage is skilled at helping people without excluding anyone.

Can you love or guide someone without any kind of expectation?

That which offers no resistance can enter where there is no space.

That which offers no resistance, overcomes the hardest substances.

Be as the still mountain; Move like the great river.

He who overcomes others has force; he who overcomes himself is strong.

Use your light, but dim your brightness.

It is as though he listened and such listening as his enfolds us in silence in which at last we begin to hear what we are meant to be.

Other people are occupied, I alone am unwilling, like the outcast.

To lead people, walk behind them.

To be learned, add something each day. To be enlightened drop something each day.

[The Master] doesn't glitter like a jewel... [but is] as rugged and common as a stone.

The greatest revelation is stillness.

Don't imagine that you'll discover {the truth} by accumulating more knowledge. Knowledge creates doubt, and doubt makes you ravenous for more knowledge. You can't get full eating this way.

Strong winds do not last all morning, hard rains do not last all day.

There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war.

A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.

Life and death are one thread.

An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.

A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms grows from a downy tip; A terrace nine stories high rises from level earth; A journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one's feet.

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.

When goodness is lost, it is replaced by morality.

Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

He who steals a hook shall be hanged; while he who steals the state shall be crowned as prince.

The world's beginning is its mother. To have found the mother is also to know the children. Although you know the children, cling to the mother. Until your last day you will not be harmed.

If you can let go of (the Tao) with your mind and surround it with your heart, it will live inside you forever.

(The Tao) is always present and always available. . . . If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things.

Those who show off do not shine.

Those who boast are not respected.

If you have really attained wholeness, everything will flock to you.

. . . learn to value what is important today in the subtle realm rather than what appears desirable tomorrow in the worldly realm.

Abandon knowledge and your worries are over.

Those who are highly evolved, maintain an undiscriminating perception. Seeing everything, labeling nothing, they maintain their awareness of the Great Oneness. Thus they are supported by it.

The biggest in the world is small in its beginning.

He who knows enough is enough will always have enough.

Truly, only those who see illness as illness can avoid illness.

Can you let go of words and ideas, attitudes and expectations? If so, then the Tao will loom into view.