Tao Te Ching Leadership Quotes

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself. ~ Lao-Tzu

So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind; Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily; Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness; Sometimes one is up and sometimes down. Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and complacency. ~ Laozi

I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy; the second is economy. The third is daring not to be ahead of others. From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity; From humility comes leadership. ~ Laozi

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Tao is both named and nameless. As nameless it is the origin of all things; as named it is the Mother of 10,000 things. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery; ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations. And the mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding. ~ Wayne W. Dyer

Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking. ~ Laozi

The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long. ~ Lao-Tzu

In the pursuit of Knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Way, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. ~ Martha Beck

The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. ~ Lao-Tzu

A tree that is unbending, is easily broken. ~ Laozi

Why are the people rebellious? Because the rulers interfere too much. Therefore they are rebellious. ~ Laozi

Great talents ripen late; the highest notes are hard to hear. ~ Laozi

A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar. ~ Lao-Tzu

Shape clay into a vessel; it is the space within that makes it useful. ~ Wayne W. Dyer

If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it. ~ Lao-Tzu

Fame of self: Which matters more? Self or wealth: Which is more precious? Gain or loss: Which is more painful? ~ Laozi

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. ~ Laozi

The more you talk of it, the less you understand. ~ Laozi

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

I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes as common as the grass. ~ Laozi

In caring for others and serving heaven,
There is nothing like using restraint. ~ Laozi

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

To understand the limitation of things, desire them. ~ Lao-Tzu

When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster. ~ Laozi

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know. ~ Lao-Tzu

It is fitting for a great nation to yield. ~ Laozi

The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of all things. ~ Laozi

Instead of trying to be a mountain, teaches the ancient Tao Te Ching, "Be the valley of the universe."4 In this way, you are restored to wholeness and so "all things will come to you. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Heaven and earth
begin in the unnamed:
name's the mother
of the ten thousand things. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

Lao Tzu's first paragraph in the book "Tao Te Ching" is that the Tao that can be told is not the absolute Tao.

Lao Tzu has his own logic, the logic of paradoxes, the logic of life.

To understand Tao, you will have to create eyes.

Lao Tzu believes in the unity of opposites, because that is how life is.

The Tao can be communicated, but it can only be communicated from heart to heart, from being to being, from love to love, from silence to silence.

Truth is always realized in silence. In silence, the truth is realized.

You reach to truth through silence.

All spiritual books tries to say something that can not be said in the hope that a thirst, a longing, is created in your heart to know the truth.

Tao is totality. Life exists through the tension of the opposites, the meeting of the opposites.

Lao Tzu says that the opposite poles of life are not really opposites, but complementaries.

Thinking is always of opposites. Lao Tzu says: drop the split attitude. Be simple.

And when you are simple, you do not choose. Lao Tzu says: be choiceless, let life flow.

Enjoy both poles in life, and then your life becomes a symphony of opposites.

How to drop the mind: do not choose. If you do not choose, the mind drops.

Live life as it comes - float. Float with life. Enjoy the moment in its totality,

It is to live as part of the whole, ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

44. Abidement Bullshit money or basic freedoms: which is dearer? Contentment or competition: which is more valuable? Compensation or employment: which is more painful? Great coitus incurs great expense, And great wealth incurs fucking phoniness, But great abidement incurs no loss. Therefore: He who knows when to take it easy Can't be worried about that shit, And may long endure ups and downs, strikes and gutters. Tao Te Ching: 44. Contentment Fame or Self: which is dearer? Self or wealth: which is more valuable? Profit or loss: which is more painful? Great love incurs great expense, And great wealth incurs great theft, But great contentment incurs no loss. Therefore: He who knows when to stop Does not continue into danger, And may long endure. ~ The Church Of The Latter-Day Dude

When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty, There arises the recognition of ugliness. When they all know the good as good, There arises the recognition of evil. - Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching ~ Scott Westerfeld

Oh wondrous,' murmured Lin Chung. 'Oh, water, mistress of earth, valley spirit, eternal feminine!'
'Taoism again?' Phryne leaned close to hear what he was whispering.
'From the "Tao Te Ching." The old Master should have seen this. All made by water, the female, cold, moon principle.'
'Yin,' said Phryne. 'This is the womb of the earth.'
'Indeed.' He took her hand. 'Completely foreign to all male, hot, sun creatures.'
'Like you?'
'Like me. Yang can only admire and tremble.'
'Come along.' She led him into the centre of the huge space. 'We don't want to get lost in the earthmother's insides. ~ Kerry Greenwood

The insignificant man makes demands of others, the significant man makes demands of himself. ~ Tao Te Ching

So wise souls, leaving self behind
move forward,
and setting self aside
stay centered.
Why let the self go?
To keep what the soul needs. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

The more you know the less you talk. ~ A.R. Rahman

When there is no desire, all things are at peace ~ Laozi

Love melts the hardest hearts
Enters between the cracks ~ Rick Julian

Earth is a divine organism
it cannot be successfully manipulated
Who attempts manipulation will encounter defeat ~ Lao-Tzu

Revere the unity of all-that-is
carry out your daily activities with compassion;
if you do not limit your compassion,
you yourself will not be limited. ~ Lao-Tzu

Two names emerge from a single origin and both are called mysterious. ~ Lao-Tzu

> He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened. TAO TE CHING (600 B.C.E.) ~ Harvey Spencer Lewis

There is
a time to live
and a time to die
but never to reject the moment. ~ Lao-Tzu

The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao. ~ Laozi

The best runner leaves no tracks. - Tao Te Ching ~ Christopher McDougall

Stay under the radar and you'll outlast all those who strive to be recognized."
-Verse #36 - Tao Te Ching ~ Lau-tzu

Emptiness appears barren
yet is infinite fullness ~ Lao-Tzu

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

If you want to be reborn,' it is written in the Tao Te Ching, 'let yourself die.' This is what I've been having trouble with, the fact that letting go can feel, at times, like a death. Someday, I know, I will lose everything. All the small deaths along the way are practice runs for the big ones, asking us to learn to be present, to grow in faith, to be grateful for what is. Life is finite and short. But this new task, figuring out how to let go of so much that has been precious
my children, my youth, my life as I know it
can feel like a bitter foretaste of other losses yet to come. ~ Katrina Kenison

To think, or not to think...This is the true question. ~ Bert McCoy

With a combination of proper lighting and climate control he managed to achieve a different ecological niche in each gallery. In the African section, where the imbrications of Augustine, Mafouz and Okri lay decomposing, he grew sorghum and Dioscorea yams. In the Chinese gallery where the Tao Te Ching and countless Confucian annotations moldered, he grew rice, crab apples and barley. Over the poems of Neruda and Borges himself, he grew potatoes. Each plant in this new Eden he lovingly tainted with the virus of civilization

- from the short story "Resurrection ~ Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

For the sage
Heaven and Earth join
in bestowing the greatest gifts ~ Lao-Tzu

Scholarly translations of the Tao Te Ching as a manual for rulers use a vocabulary that emphasizes the uniqueness of the Taoist "sage," his masculinity, his authority. This language is perpetuated, and degraded, in most popular versions. I wanted a Book of the Way accessible to a present-day, unwise, unpowerful, and perhaps unmale reader, not seeking esoteric secrets, but listening for a voice that speaks to the soul. I would like that reader to see why people have loved the book for twenty-five hundred years. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

Countless words
count less
than the silent balance
between yin and yang ~ Lao-Tzu

Observe how endings become beginnings. ~ Laozi

Who acts in stillness finds stillness in his life. ~ Lao-Tzu

Perfect tranquillity is the way of heaven and earth. ~ Lao-Tzu