Tzu Quotes

When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. ~ Sun Tzu

When superior people hear guidance, they carry it out diligently and ably. When mediocre people hear guidance, it seems vague and uncertain. When lesser people hear guidance, they laugh. ~ Lao-Tzu

Now it is so; 'twas so of old. ~ Lao-Tzu

Lao-tzu didn't actually say very much more about the meaning of Tao. The Way of Nature, the Way of happening self-so, or, if you like, the very process of life, was something which he was much too wise to define. For to try to say anything definite about the Tao is like trying to eat your mouth: you can't get outside it to chew it. To put it the other way round: anything you can chew is not your mouth. ~ Alan W. Watts

Just remain in the center; watching. And then forget that you are there. ~ Lao-Tzu

The great Tao (or way) is very level and easy; but people love the by-ways. ~ Lao Tzu

Generally, management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization. And to control many is the same as to control few. This is a matter of formations and signals. ~ Sun Tzu

I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. ~ Leo Tolstoy

By this (nature of the Tao). ~ Lao-Tzu

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. - Sun Tzu ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt. ~ Sun Tzu

Manage affairs before they are in a mess. ~ Lao-Tzu

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. ~ Lao-Tzu

It might appear to have been before God. ~ Lao-Tzu

The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; ~ Sun Tzu

The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat: - let such a one be dismissed! ~ Sun Tzu

At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to oppose you. ~ Sun Tzu

The simple child again, free from all stains. ~ Lao-Tzu

When things flourish they decline. ~ Lao-Tzu

Balk the enemy's power; force him to reveal himself. ~ Sun Tzu

Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business. ~ Sun Tzu

Everything under heaven is a sacred vessel and cannot be controlled. Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose. Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it too is a vessel of perfection. Just as you breathe in and breathe out, there is a time for being ahead and a time for being behind; a time for being in motion and a time for being at rest; a time for being vigorous and a time for being exhausted; a time for being safe and a time for being in danger. ~ Lao-Tzu

When strong, appear weak. Brave, appear fearful. Orderly, appear chaotic. Full, appear empty. Wise, appear foolish. Many, appear to be few. Advancing, appear to retreat. Moving quickly, appear to be slow. Taking, appear to leave. In one place, appear to be in another. ~ Sun Tzu

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

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. ~ Lao-Tzu

What is the Tao Te Ching? Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a God-realized being named Lao-tzu in ancient China dictated 81 verses which are regarded by many as the ultimate commentary on the nature of existence. ~ Wayne Dyer

Some say that my teaching is nonsense.
Other call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep. ~ Lao-Tzu

In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack
the
direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to
an endless series of maneuvers. ~ Sun Tzu

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment. ~ Lao-Tzu

My eldest brother sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape, so his name does not get out of the house. My elder brother cures sickness when it is still extremely minute, so his name does not get out of the neighborhood. As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe potions, and massage skin, so from time to time my name gets out and is heard among the lords. ~ Sun Tzu

Intellectual knowledge exists in and of the brain.
Because the brain is part of the body, which must one day expire, this collection of facts, however large and impressive, will expire as well.
Insight, however, is a function of the spirit.
Because your spirit follows you through cycle after cycle of life, death, and rebirth, you have the opportunity of cultivating insight in an ongoing fashion.
Refined over time, insight becomes pure, constant, and unwavering.
This is the beginning of immortality. ~ Lao-Tzu

Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots. ~ Sun Tzu

He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them. ~ Sun Tzu

The moral man does something,
and when no one responds
he rolls up his sleeves and uses force. ~ Lao-Tzu

There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen. ~ Sun Tzu

That difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other; ~ Lao-Tzu

Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles. ~ Sun Tzu

Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and the people will be transformed of themselves; ~ Lao Tzu

It is through their not being full of themselves that they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete. ~ Lao-Tzu

The Completer and Wu Wang all used spears and battle-axes in order to succor their generation. The SSU-MA FA says: If one man slay another of set purpose, he himself ~ Sun Tzu

Chang Tzu tells us of a persevering man who after three laborious years mastered the art of dragon-slaying. For the rest of his days, he had not a single opportunity to test his skills. ~ Jorge Luis Borges

The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. ~ Lao-Tzu

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. ~ Lao-Tzu

Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, "Well done! ~ Sun Tzu

If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness. ~ Lao-Tzu

In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close. ~ Sun Tzu

The dance of battle is always played to the same impatient rhythm. What begins in a surge of violent motion is always reduced to the perfectly still. ~ Sun Tzu

A skilful (commander) strikes a decisive blow, and stops. ~ Lao-Tzu

(Then) appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy. ~ Lao-Tzu

When affirmation and negation came into being, Tao faded. After Tao faded, then came one-sided attachments. ~ Zhuangzi

To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go ~ Lao-Tzu

We become one body ; the enemy being separated into ten parts. We attack the divided ten with the united one. We are many, the enemy is few, and in superiority of numbers there is economy of strength. ~ Sun Tzu

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

(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). ~ Lao-Tzu

He who only sees the obvious, wins his battles with difficulty; he who looks below the surface of things, wins with ease ~ Sun Tzu

It brings them to maturity and exercises no control over them; - ~ Lao-Tzu

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. ~ Sun Tzu

He who conquers other has force; he who conquers himself has strength. ~ Lao-Tzu

The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days. ~ Lao-Tzu

Heaven and earth are not humanistic - they regard myriad beings as straw dogs; sages are not humanistic - they regard people as straw dogs, ~ Sun Tzu

Leaders can change the tenor of the workplace and create harmony in motion toward a favorable result. So every time you say to your team, "Let's rock and roll," make sure you have already set up the stage to where they can actually perform like rock stars. ~ Thomas Huynh

If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed. ~ Lao-Tzu

If its deep mystery we would sound; ~ Lao-Tzu

Make the earth a dwelling place. Cultivate the heart and mind. Practice benevolence. Stand by your word. Govern with equity. Serve skillfully. Act in a timely way, without contentiousness, free of blame. ~ Lao-Tzu

Therefore the master of war causes the enemy's forces to yield, but without fighting ; he captures his fortress, but without besieging it ; and without lengthy fighting takes the enemy's kingdom. Without tarnishing his weapons he gains the complete advantage. This is the assault by stratagem. ~ Sun Tzu

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. ~ Sun Tzu

When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy. ~ Sun Tzu

These forays into the real world sharpened his view that scientists needed the widest possible education. He used to say, "How can you design for people if you don't know history and psychology? You can't. Because your mathematical formulas may be perfect, but the people will screw it up. And if that happens, it means you screwed it up." He peppered his lectures with quotations from Plato, Chaka Zulu, Emerson, and Chang-tzu.

But as a professor who was popular with his students - and who advocated general education - Thorne found himself swimming against the tide. The academic world was marching toward ever more specialized knowledge, expressed in ever more dense jargon. In this climate, being liked by your students was a sign of shallowness; and interest in real-world problems was proof of intellectual poverty and a distressing indifference to theory. ~ Michael Crichton

The best general is the one who never fights. ~ Sun Tzu

Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the spontaneity of his nature. ~ Lao-Tzu

That which is meddling, touching everything, ~ Lao-Tzu

If you want a peaceful place to dwell Cold Mountain is guaranteed forever A light wind blows softly in the pines The sound is good when you are close One old man sits beneath the trees Reading Lao Tzu and Huang Ti, mumbling I could not find the world if I searched ten years I've forgotten the road by which I came ~ Hanshan

We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others. ~ Lao-Tzu

Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack. ~ Sun Tzu

The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao-Tzu's dictum: "Those who know, do not say; Those who say, do not know." When the master entered, they asked him what the words meant. Said the master, "Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose?" All of them indicated that they knew. Then he said, "Put it into words." All of them were silent. ~ Anthony De Mello

Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm ~ Sun Tzu

Gently eliminating all obstacles to his own understanding, he constantly maintains his unconditional sincerity. His humility, perseverance, and adaptability evoke the response of the universe and fill him with divine light. ~ Lao-Tzu

The leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril. ~ Sun Tzu

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. ~ Lao-Tzu

Keep your fiends close and your enemies even closer. ~ Sun Tzu

Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. ~ Sun Tzu

Eviction," Frieda said. "You can't pay, you can't stay." She said in Yiddish, "Es iz shver tzu makhen a leben." It's hard to make a living. ~ Amy Bloom

The best military policy is to attack strategies; the next to attack alliances; the next to attack soldiers. ~ Sun Tzu

Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses. ~ Lao-Tzu

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel,
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheels depends.
We turn clay to make vessel,
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends.
We pierce doors and windows to make a house,
And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends.
Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not. ~ Lao-Tzu

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. ~ Lao-Tzu

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy ~ Sun Tzu

When he has cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw. ~ Lao-Tzu

Poem for Liu Ya-tzu I cannot forget how in Canton we drank tea and in Chungking went over our poems when leaves were yellowing. Thirty-one years ago and now we come back at last to the ancient capital Peking. In this season of falling flowers I read your beautiful poems. Be careful not to be torn inside. Open your vision to the world. Don't say that waters of Kumming Lake are too shallow. We can watch fish better here than in the Fuchun River in the south. ~ Mao Zedong

he who knows himself is intelligent. ~ Lao-Tzu

The art of using troops is this:
... When ten to the enemy's one, surround him;
... When five times his strength, attack him;
... If double his strength, divide him;
... If equally matched you may engage him;
... If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing;
... And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him,
... for a small force is but booty for one more powerful. ~ Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu Wu was a native of the Ch`i State. His Art of War brought him to the notice of Ho Lu, King of Wu. Ho Lu said to him: "I have carefully perused your 13 chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a slight test? ~ Sun Tzu

Be stern in the council-chamber, [Show no weakness, and insist on your plans being ratified by the sovereign.] so that you may control the situation. ~ Sun Tzu

8. EARTH comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death. 9. The COMMANDER stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness. ~ Sun Tzu

When I let go of who I am, I become who I might be. ~ Lao-Tzu

Used gently, and without the touch of pain. ~ Lao-Tzu

Things' essences all there endure. ~ Lao-Tzu

The way is easy stay on the path. ~ Lao-Tzu

If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty. ~ Lao-Tzu

However desperate the situation and circumstances, don't despair. When there is everything to fear, be unafraid. When surrounded by dangers, fear none of them. When without resources, depend on resourcefulness. When surprised, take the enemy by surprise. ~ Sun Tzu