Lao Tzu

Quotes

To conquer others is to have power, to conquer yourself is to know the way.
Heaven endures and the earth last a long time because they do not live for themselves.
Stop thinking, and end your problems.
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Water is fluid, soft and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.
Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The journey of a thousand leagues begins from beneath your feet.
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.
A good manager is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him.
He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
Know the masculine, keep to the feminine.
[Advise] the ruler to govern the state as one cooks a small fish -- that is, don't turn it so often in the pan that it disintegrates.
Learning builds daily accumulation, but the prictice of Tao builds daily simplification. Simplify and simplify, until all contamination from relative, contridictory thinking is eliminated. Then one does nothing, yet nothing is left undone. One who wins the world does so by not meddling with it. One who meddles with the world loses it.
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.
The best [man] is like water.
Water is good; it benefits all things and does not compete with them.
It dwells in [lowly] places that all disdain.
This is why it is so near to Tao.
To produce things and to rear them,
To produce, but not to take possession of them,
To act, but not to rely on one's own ability,
To lead them, but not to master them -
This is called profound and secret virtue.
He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire.
Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.
To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.
To be worn out is to be renewed.
He who knows others is wise;
He who know himself is enlightened.
When the highest type of men hear Tao,
They diligently practice it.
When the average type of men hear Tao,
They half believe in it.
When the lowest type of men hear Tao,
They laugh heartily at it.
Without the laugh, there is no Tao.
The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
Through this I know the advantage of taking no action.
There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.
There is no greater guilt than discontentment.
And there is no greater disaster than greed.
He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know.
The more laws and order are made prominent,
The more thieves and robbers there will be.
People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.
I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:
The first is deep love,
The second is frugality,
And the third is not to dare to be ahead of the world.
Because of deep love, one is courageous.
Because of frugality, one is generous.
Because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the world.
When armies are mobilized and issues are joined,
The man who is sorry over the fact will win.
To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.
The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.
The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
Arms are instruments of ill omen. . . . When one is compelled to use them, it is best to do so without relish. There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men. . . . When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow. When victorious in war, one should observe mourning rites.
The softest things in the world to overcome the hardest things in the world.
Conquering others takes force, conquering yourself is true strength.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.