Laozi Quotes

Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world. Without looking out your window, you can see the essence of the Tao. The more you know, the less you understand. The Master arrives without leaving, sees the light without looking, achieves without doing a thing.

Knowing that you do not know is the best. Not knowing that you do not know is an illness.

A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth.

My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don't analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being.

He who regards the world as he does the fortune of his own body can govern the world. He who loves the world as he does his own body can be entrusted with the world.

Holding on to the weak is called strength.

Use the light to return to clarity.

Seeing the small is called clarity.

He does not feel pity for himself - thus he can successfully develop.

The perfect square lacks corners.

Do nondoing, strive for nonstriving, savor the flavorless, regard the small as important, make much of little, repay enmity with virtue; plan for difficulty when it is still easy, do the great while it is still small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are easy; the greatest things in the world must be done while they are small.

Returning to the source is stillness. It is returning to one's fate. Returning to one's fate is eternal.

Let people return to making knots on ropes, instead of writing.

Moderation means prevention. Prevention means achieving much virtue.

He who, conscious of being strong, is content to be weak, he shall be the paragon of mankind. Being the paragon of mankind, Virtue will never desert him. He returns to the state of a little child.

When the uncarved wood is split, its parts are put to use. When the sage is put to use, he becomes the head.

Deal with the small before it becomes large.

If you see what is small as it sees itself, and accept what is weak for what strength it has, and use what is dim for the light it gives then all will go well. This is called Acting Naturally.

He that humbles himself shall be preserved entire. He that bends shall be made straight. He that is empty shall be filled. He that is worn out shall be renewed. He who has little shall succeed. He who has much shall go astray.

I am at peace, and people become fair by themselves.

Peace and quiet govern the world.

He who stands on tiptoe
doesn't stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn't go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can't know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can't empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures.

When many people are killed, they should be mourned and lamented. Those who are victorious in war should follow the rites of funerals.

Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. Therefore the Master remains serene in the midst of sorrow. Evil cannot enter his heart. Because he has given up helping, he is people's greatest help. True words seem paradoxical.

The superior student listens to the Way and follows it closely. The average student listens to the Way and follows some and some not. The lesser student listens to the Way and laughs out loud. If there were no laughter it would not be the Way.

Those who take long steps cannot keep the pace.

The sage knows without traveling, perceives without looking, completes without acting.

A government can be compared to our lungs. Our lungs are best when we don't realize they are helping us breathe. It is when we are constantly aware of our lungs that we know they have come down with an illness.

It is wisdom to know others. It is enlightenment to know oneself.

Stay at the center and let all things take their course.

Understand this if nothing else: spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao are not randomly bestowed gifts, but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution.

The sage knows himself, but does not parade. He cherishes himself, but does not praise himself.

For knowledge, add something every day. For wisdom ... subtract.

That, which others compress - will widen up and open. That, which others weaken - will strengthen. That, which others destroy - will blossom. Whoever wished to take something from the other, will inevitably loose his own.

Guns don't kill people - people do.

The sage seeks freedom from desire. He does not collect precious things. He learns not to hold on to ideas. He brings men back to what they have lost.

Not knowing of the eternal leads to unfortunate errors.

The sage acts by doing nothing.

What is well planted will not be uprooted.

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

Mold clay into a bowl. The empty space makes it useful.

The one who is filled by virtue is like a newborn baby.

Of all things, none does not revere the Way and honor virtue. Reverence of the Way and honoring virtue were not demanded of them, but it is in their nature.

When the sage stands above people, they are not oppressed. When he leads people, they are not obstructed. The world will exalt him and not grow tired of him.

Can you care for the people and rule the country and not be cunning?

Few things under heaven bring more benefit than the lessons learned from silence and the actions taken without striving.

The good leader carries water for his people.

The wise man doesn't compete; therefore nobody can compete with him.

The virtuous carry out the settlement, but those without virtue pursue their claims.

The ego is entranced by ... names and ideas ... However names and concepts only block your perception of this Great Oneness. Therefore it is wise to ignore them. Those who live inside their egos are continually bewildered.

Can you make your soul embrace the One and not lose it?

Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course? Can you step back from you own mind and thus understand all things? Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.

A man is born gentle and weak. At death, he is hard and stiff. Green plants are tender and filled with sap. At death, they are withered and dry. Therefore, the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death, and the gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.

If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.

Seal the openings, shut the doors, dull the sharpness, untie the knots, dim the light, become one with the dust. This is called the profound union.

The master does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe is forever out of control, and that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Tao.

Better stop short than fill to the brim. Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt. Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.

The net of heaven is very wide in its meshes, and yet it misses nothing.

When the hares have all been caught, the hunting dogs are cooked.

Thorn bushes grow where armies have camped.

Carrying body and soul and embracing the one, Can you avoid separation?

Nothing is weaker than water, Yet for overcoming what is hard and strong, Nothing surpasses it.

Approach the universe with Tao, And evil will have no power. Not that evil is not powerful, But its power will not be used to harm others.

When great armies go to war, Sorrow is the sole winner.

The good man is the teacher of the bad, And the bad is the material from which the good may learn. He who does not value the teacher, Or greatly care for the material, Is greatly deluded although he may be learned. Such is the essential mystery.

The value of actions lies in their timing.

With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy I can be liberal; shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a vessel of the highest honour.

Cultivate virtue in the world, and it will be universal.

Abandon wisdom, discard knowledge, and people will benefit a hundredfold.

When the great Tao is forgotten, goodness and piety appear. When the body's intelligence declines, cleverness and knowledge step forth. When there is no peace in the family, filial piety begins. When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born.

Life and death are one thread ...

When armies are mobilized and issues joined, the man who is sorry over the fact will always win.

Racing and hunting excite man's heart to madness.

He who accounts all things easy will have many difficulties.

The Way is empty, yet inexhaustible, like an abyss!

All things in the world are born out of being. Being is born out of non-being.

It is because every one tinder Heaven recognizes beauty as beauty that the idea of ugliness exists.

Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy. Act on large issues while they are small.

The Tao is always at ease. It overcomes without competing, answers without speaking a word, arrives without being summoned, accomplishes without a plan. Its net covers the whole universe. And though its meshes are wide, it doesn't let a thing slip through.

If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?

Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.

Pain and happiness are simply conditions of the ego. Forget the ego.

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.

Abandon learning and there will be no sorrow.

Understanding others is knowledge, Understanding oneself is enlightenment; Conquering others is power, Conquering oneself is strength.

Dignified, like a guest.

Excellent soldiers are not furious.

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.

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

When taxes are too high, people go hungry.

Without the tao, Kindness and compassion are replaced by law and justice; Faith and trust are supplanted by ritual and ceremony.

When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority. Therefore the Master steps back so that people won't be confused. He teaches without a teaching, so that people will have nothing to learn.

Excellent leaders of people lower themselves.

I confess that there is nothing to teach: no religion, no science, no writings which will lead your mind back to Spirit. Today I speak this way, tomorrow that, but always the Path is beyond words and beyond mind.

True power is stillness within motion.

The Tao can't be perceived. Smaller than an electron, it contains uncountable galaxies. If powerful men and women could remain centered in the Tao, all things would be in harmony. The world would become a paradise. All people would be at peace, and the law would be written in their hearts. When you have names and forms, know that they are provisional. When you have institutions, know where their functions should end. Knowing when to stop, you can avoid any danger. All things end in the Tao as rivers flow into the sea.

The way is constantly without action, yet there is nothing that is not done.

The highest tone is hard to hear.

No misfortune is worse than underestimating the enemy. Underestimating the enemy, I risk losing my treasure.

Must one dread what others dread?