Laozi Quotes

When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance.

When the highest type of people hear Tao (Truth), they diligently practice it. When the average type of people hear Tao, they half believe in it. When the lowest type of people hear Tao, they laugh at it. If they did not laugh, it would not be Tao.

All things in the world come from being. And being comes from non-being.

Nature doesn't make long speeches.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

The one who is conscious (in Tao) can't speak. The one who can speak is not conscious (centered in Tao)

Bend and you will be straight.

Abandon fancy theologies and imaginary ideas and do some ordinary daily work... {Engage in this work with} unswerving kindness and unending patience.

The highest benevolence acts without purpose.

He does not praise himself - yet he is respectable.

Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.

Clay is molded to form a cup, But it is on its non-being that the utility of the cup depends. Doors and windows are cut out to make a room, But it is on its non-being that the utility of the room depends. Therefore turn being into advantage, and turn non-being into utility.

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

A sage is skilled at helping people without excluding anyone.

Conclusions are ignorance arrested on the path to less ignorance.

He who gains a victory over other men is strong; but he who gains a victory over himself is all powerful.

Knowing honor, but clinging to disgrace, you become the valley of the world.

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.

A good counter needs no calculator.

From What-is all the world of things was born But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.

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

The weak overcomes the strong. The soft overcomes the hard. Everybody in the world knows this, still nobody makes use of it.

Let muddy water stand and it will become clear.

Build up virtue, and you master all.

They can see their neighbors. Roosters and dogs can be heard from there. Still, they will age and die without visiting one another.

Greed for enlightenment and immortality is no different than greed for material wealth. It is self-centered and dualistic, and thus an obstacle to true attainment. Therefore these states are never achieved by those who covet them; rather, they are the reward of the virtuous.

He does not struggle with anyone - thus no one can vanquish him.

Face the simple fact before it comes involved. Solve the small problem before it becomes big.

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

Simplicity has no name is free of desires. Being free of desires it is tranquil. And the world will be at peace of it's own accord.

Without looking through the window, you can see Heaven's Way.

The best soldiers are not warlike; the best fighters do not lose their temper. The greatest conquerors are those who overcome their enemies without strife. The greatest directors of men are those who yield place to others. This is called the Virtue of not striving, the capacity for directing mankind; this is being the compeer of Heaven. It was the highest goal of the ancients.

I am good to people who are good. I am also good to people who are not good. Because Virtue is goodness.

Wear down to be renewed.

Without desire there is stillness, and the world settles by itself.

The Master doesn't seek fulfillment. For only those who are not full are able to be used which brings the feeling of completeness.

Abandon benevolence, discard duty, and people will return to the family ties.

Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.

First, we must do our own personal work, then we tend the necessary work of our family, then our community, then the world.

The soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong.

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.

The surest test if a person be sane, is if she accepts life whole, as it is.

Those who know are wise. Those who know themselves are enlightened.

A sound man is good at salvage, at seeing nothing is lost

Going forward seems like retreat.

Therefore: In dwelling, choose modest quarters, in thinking, value stillness, in dealing with others, be kind, in choosing words, be sincere, in leading, be just, in working, be competent, in acting, choose the correct timing. Follow these words and there will be no error.