Laozi Quotes

Does one scent appeal more than another? Do you prefer this flavor, or that feeling? Is your practice sacred and your work profane? Then your mind is separated: from itself, from oneness, from the Tao.

Meandering leads to perfection.

He does not seek power - yet people follow him.

To be worn out is to be renewed.

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

True words are not pleasing. Pleasing words are not true.

If Heaven were not clear it might rend. If Earth were not firm it might crumble.

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

Those who seek knowledge, collect something every day. Those who seek the Way, let go of something every day.

One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.

People aren't against you; they are for themselves. The most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later. He who conquers others is strong, he who conquers himself is mighty.

The further one goes, the less (he realizes he) one knows.

When family ties are disturbed, devoted children arise.

Better stop short than fill to the brim. Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt. Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?

People who have to fight for their living and are not afraid to die for it are higher persons than those who, stationed high, are too fat to dare to die.

Do not fear the aging of the body for it is the body's way of seeking the root.

Nature is not human hearted.

Sages do not accumulate for themselves. The more they give to others, the more they possess of their own. The way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.

When many people are killed, they should be mourned and lamented. Those who are victorious in war should follow the rites of funerals.

Filling all the way to the brim is not as good as halting in time.

When much virtue is achieved, nothing is not overcome.

The Master views the parts with compassion, because he understands the whole. His constant practice is humility. He doesn't glitter like a jewel but lets himself be shaped by the Tao, as rugged and common as a stone.

Rituals are the end of fidelity and honesty, and the beginning of confusion.

What man has more than enough and gives it to the world? Only the man of Tao.

The sage regards things as difficult, and thereby avoids difficulty.

If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Make the small big and the few many.

Can you open and close the gate of Heaven and act like a woman?

A great country is like the lower outlet of a river. It is the world's meeting ground, the world's female.

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 Tao doesn't take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil. The Master doesn't take sides; she welcomes both saints and sinners. The Tao is like a bellows: it is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it, the less you understand. Hold on to the center.

The Tao's principle is spontaneity.

Without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony.

To know others is to have knowledge. To know yourself is to be enlightened.

It is fitting for a great nation to yield.

The Way of Tao is this: It strives not, but conquers; It speaks not, but all is made clear; It summons not, but its house is crowded; It contrives not, but the design is perfect.

I do not act, and people become reformed by themselves.

To the good I would be good; to the not-good I would also be good, in order to make them good.

The virtuous carry out the settlement, but those without virtue pursue their claims.

Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.

It is better not to make merit a matter of reward Lest people conspire and contend.

The usefulness of the pot lies in its emptiness.

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.

A journey of a thousand leagues begins beneath one's feet.