Lao-Tzu Quotes

Two names emerge from a single origin and both are called mysterious.

Weapons are never the implements of good fortune, and they are to be detested. Therefore, the wise leader avoids them. Normally the wise leader values patience, but when at war he values action. Since he is opposed to the use of weapons, he uses them only when it is unavoidable, and even then with great restraint. To praise victory in war is to rejoice in the slaughter of men. The slaughter of men causes grief and sorrow to the people, therefore he who rejoices in this will not be successful. Fortune follows the restrained, misfortune follows the ambitious. Therefore victory in war should not be celebrated, but instead should be met with mourning.

Peace in Every step

The way of heaven is to help and not harm.

To lead people, walk beside them.

The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors.

Thirty spokes converge at the hub,
but emptiness completes the wheel.
Clay is shaped to make a pot,
and what's useful is its emptiness.
Carve fine doors and windows,
but the room is useful in its emptiness.
What is
is beneficial, while what is not
also proves useful.

All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named); that existence sprang from

Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.

Higher good is like water:
the good in water benefits all,
and does so without contention.
It rests where people dislike to be,
so it is close to the Way.
Good ground;
profound is the good in its heart,
Benevolent the good it bestows.

That difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other;

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

What calamity is greater than no contentment,
and what flaw greater than the passion for gain.

He who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it.

He who, being a man, remains a woman, becomes a universal channel. Eternal virtue will flow through him. He will become a child again.

When its work is accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it.

All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small.

Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.

Nature is not human hearted.

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

Its name - what passes not away;

Seeing our own smallness is called insight, honoring our own tenderness is called strenght.

When things flourish they decline.

I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.

By letting go it all gets done.

Truly good people are not aware of their goodness, And are therefore good.

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.

Very few are aware of the highest. Then comes that which they know and love,

Nature does not play favourites, it regards its creations without sentimentality. Therefore the wise person also acts in this way.

Nothingness and Beingness are merely conceptions ...

As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.

To be worn out is to be renewed.

Love
Embracing Tao, you become embraced.
Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.
Clearing your vision, you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you become accepted.
Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
Controlling without authority,
This is love.

He who acts, spoils; he who grasps, lets slip.

It produces them and does not claim them as its own;

Ruling a large kingdom is like cooking a small fish ...

For the sage
Heaven and Earth join
in bestowing the greatest gifts

An ocean of ink in a single drop,
Trembling at the tip of my brush.
Poised above stark white paper,
A universe waits for existence.

Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it.

(Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure).

Used gently, and without the touch of pain.

Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter's place. When you handle the master carpenter's tools, chances are that you'll cut your hand.

A man who knows how little he knows is well, a man who knows how much he knows is sick. If, when you see the symptoms, you can tell, Your cure is quick.
A sound man knows that sickness makes him sick and before he catches it his cure is quick.

Just remain in the center; watching. And then forget that you are there.

For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the (proper) service to the heavenly, there is nothing like moderation.

Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;
Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;
The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste;
The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste
Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange,
Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.

That the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.

Heaven which by it is bright and pure;

He who possesses virtue in abundance may be compared to an infant.

Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one's growth.

The Tao that can be described is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.

Let him keep his mouth open, and (spend his breath) in the promotion of his affairs, and all his life there will be no safety for him.

If the one did not honour his master, and the other did not rejoice in his helper, an (observer), though intelligent, might greatly err about them.

Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes.

Men resort to him, and receive no hurt, but (find) rest, peace, and the feeling of ease.

When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder.

Not asserted, therefore known, Not boasted of, therefore of worth, Not contentious, so enduring. It's because the wise do not contend, That no one can contend with them.

Allow the heart to empty itself of all turmoil! Retrieve the utter tranquility of the mind from which you issued.
Although all forms are dynamic,and we all grow and transform,each of us is compelled to return to our root. Our root is quietude.

Life must be poetry, a song, a dance, like a flower on the roadside, blossoming for no one in particular, but spreading its fragrance in the wind, and sending it anywhere.

In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.

Material and infinite are inseparable
Appreciating their interconnectedness
is the gateway to understanding

The tree too thick to embrace
emerges from a seedling.
A nine-storey tower rises from a brick.
A thousand-mile journey begins under your feet.

There is no greater misfortune than not knowing what is enough. There is no greater fault than the desire to possess.

...the mind is just as immeasurable as the vast universe. An integral being settles his mind just as the vast universe settles itself. He unites his mind with the unnameable Subtle Origin of the multi-universe in which there is no past, present or future. This is how an integral being deals with his mind.

For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.

The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness.

There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it; - for there is nothing (so effectual) for which it can be changed.

when he is going to despoil another, he will first have made gifts to him: -

He who conquers other has force; he who conquers himself has strength.

Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.

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.

If the force of arms is considered the only means of authority, it is not an auspicious instrument.

So it is that some things are increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being increased.

The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be.

From self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority.

Of fame or life, Which do you hold more dear?
Or life or wealth, To which would you adhere?
Keep life and lose those other things; Keep them and lose your life:-- which brings Sorrow and pain more near?

Therefore the sage knows (these things) of himself, but does not parade (his knowledge); loves, but does not (appear to set a) value on, himself.

To know others is wisdom;
To know yourself is enlightenment;
To master others requires force;
To master yourself requires true strength.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

Thus it was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of faith in them ensued (in the people).

The work is done, but how no one can see;
'Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.

Chanting is no more holy than listening to the murmur of a stream, couting prayer beads no more scared than simply breathing, religious robed no more spiritual than work clothes.

Anyone who doesn't respect a teacher or cherish a student may be clever, but has gone astray.

Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will.

Kind prince there is nothing in the realm of ideas that is absolute, therefore all efforts to form ideologies are ultimately futile.

All things return (to their root and disappear), and do not know that it is it which presides over their doing so; - it may be named in the greatest things.

Racing and hunting madden our minds.

Thirty spokes share the hub of a wheel;
yet it is its center that makes it useful.
You can mould clay into a vessel;
yet, it is its emptiness that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows from the walls of a house;
but the ultimate use of the house
will depend on that part where nothing exists.
Therefore, something is shaped into what is;
but its usefulness comes from what is not.

Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.

The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.

If we could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our (scheming for) gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.

The grace of Tao
and divine nature (Te)
are not ordered
but eternal spontaneous
action of the One

Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above.

The difficult problems in life always start off being simple. Great affairs always start off being small.

Following the Universal Way means practicing selflessness and extending virtue to the world unconditionally. In this way one not only eliminates the heavy contamination accumulated throughout many lifetimes but may also bring about the possibility of restoring one's original divine nature and become an integral being of the multi-universe.

The Tao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Tao which is skilful at imparting (to all things what they need) and making them complete.

When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises.

It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them;

To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

If you search everywhere, yet cannot find what you are seeking, it is because what you seek is already in your possession.