Laozi Quotes

Those who make their living by collecting taxes cause the people to starve; when the people starve, the tax collectors, having no one to tax, starve also

If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.

Be as the still mountain; Move like the great river.

When people see some things as good, other things become bad.

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

My words are very easy to understand and very easy to practice; but there is no one in the world who is able to understand and practice them.

The difficult problems in life always start off being simple. Great affairs always start off being small.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.

Why is the sea king of a hundred streams? Because it lies below them... If the sage would guide the people, he must serve with humility. If he would lead them, he must follow behind. In this way when the sage rules, the people will not feel oppressed.

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery.

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

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.

Kindness in giving creates love.

How can a man's life keep it's course If he will not let it flow, Those who flow as life flows know They need no other force: They feel no wear, they feel no tear, They need no mending, no repair.

When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.

When a country is in harmony with the Tao, the factories make trucks and tractors. When a country goes counter to the Tao, warheads are stockpiled outside the cities. There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy. Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.

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.

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

The value comes from what is there, but the use comes from what is not there.

The Tao is infinite, eternal. Why is it eternal? It was never born; thus it can never die. Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; thus it is present for all beings. The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.

We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.

The sage acts without taking credit. He accomplishes without dwelling on it. He does not want to display his worth.

There is a big misunderstanding about the idea of naturalness. Most people who come to us believing in some freedom or naturalness, but their understanding is what we call [heretical naturalness] ... a kind of "let-alone policy" or sloppiness... For a plant or stone to be natural is no problem. But for us there is some problem, indeed a big problem. To be natural is something we must work on.

Gentleness brings victory to him who attacks, and safety to him who defends. Those whom Heaven would save, it fences round with gentleness.

Reputation should be neither sought nor avoided.

When the Way governs the world, the proud stallions drag dung carriages. When the Way is lost to the world, war horses are bred outside the city.

See others as yourself. See families as your family. See towns as your town. See countries as your country. See worlds as your world.

Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.

One cannot reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.

Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.

Quiet your mind and stop judging and resisting and manipulating the natural way.

Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.

When you accurately perceive the fluidity of things, you can also begin to perceive the constancy behind them: the creative, transformative, boundless, immutable Tao.

When pure sincerity forms within, it is outwardly realized in other people's hearts.

All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.

We go from birth to death. Three out of ten follow life. Three out of ten follow death. People who rush from birth to death are also three out of ten. Why is that so? Because they want to make too much of life.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

You cannot receive what you don't give. Outflow determines inflow.

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.

heaven is eternal, earth everlasting. they endure this way because they do not live for themselves. in the same way, the wise person puts himself last, and thereby finds himself first, holds himself outside, and thereby remains at the center, abandons himself, and is thereby fulfilled.

Take [preventive] action before things happen. Establish order before disorder has begun.

If Heaven and Earth are unable to persist, how could man?

The Way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.

We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see, but these things are only the effects of something subtle.

The truly wise are content to be last. They are, therefore, first. They are indifferent to themselves. They are, therefore self-confident.

The mark of a moderate man is freedom from his own ideas. Tolerant like the sky, all-pervading like sunlight, firm like a mountain, supple like a tree in the wind, he has no destination in view and makes use of anything life happens to bring his way.

There is a time to go ahead and a time to stay behind. There is a time to breathe easy and time to breathe hard. There is a time to be vigorous and a time to be gentle. There is a time to gather and a time to release. Can you see things as they are And let them be all on their own?