Laozi Quotes

We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use.

The best way to live / is to be like water / For water benefits all things / and goes against none of them.

When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.

The Way is the source of all things, good people's treasure and bad people's refuge.

Creating without claiming, Doing without taking credit, Guiding without interfering, This is Primal Virtue.

A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth.

He who regards many things easy will find many difficulties. Therefore the sage regards things difficult, and consequently never has difficulties.

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.

The sage wears coarse clothes, concealing jade.

Failure is the foundation of success: success is the lurking place of failure.

The sage avoids extremity, excess, and extravagance.

He who knows he has enough is rich.

My words have an origin. My deeds have a sovereign. Truly, because people do not understand this, they do not understand me.

In work, do what you enjoy.

For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.

Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can. I wish you Happy New Year and diary full of best stories ever written in your life.

The Way is empty, yet inexhaustible, like an abyss!

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

There is no greater sin than desire, No greater curse than discontent, No greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself. Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

The farther you go, the less you know.

...The sage, traveling all day, Does not lose sight of his baggage. Though there are beautiful things to be seen, He remains unattached and calm.

Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space: All are transient expressions of the Tao.

Good men are bad men's instructors, And bad men are good men's materials.

If you never assume importance, you never lose it.

[The Master] doesn't glitter like a jewel... [but is] as rugged and common as a stone.

He who holds balance...has attained the highest post in the world.

Having reached a high level of realization (or having accomplished anything in life), don't get excited or puffed up with pride but remain calm, humble, and in "perfect equanimity" if you want to continue in this deep state of consciousness.

As for the "proper way:" it is the beginning of disorder.

Before healing others, heal yourself

Force is followed by loss of strength. This is not the way of the Tao. That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.

To know people is wisdom, but to know yourself is enlightenment. to master people takes force, but to master yourself takes strength. to know contentment is wealth, and to live with strength resolve. to never leave whatever you are is to abide, and to die without getting lost- that is to live on and on.

Every step is on the path.

Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

The sage seeks freedom from desire. He does not collect precious things. He learns not to hold on to ideas. He brings men back to what they have lost.

By moderation one can be generous.

Don't imagine that you'll discover {the truth} by accumulating more knowledge. Knowledge creates doubt, and doubt makes you ravenous for more knowledge. You can't get full eating this way.

Love is the greatest link that we have with those who have temporarily left us.

It (Tao) is eternally without desire. So, it can be called small. All things return to it, although it does not make itself their ruler. So, it can be called great.

Truly, only those who see illness as illness can avoid illness.

The highest virtue is not virtuous. Therefore it has virtue. The lowest virtue holds on to virtue. Therefore it has no virtue.

. . . learn to value what is important today in the subtle realm rather than what appears desirable tomorrow in the worldly realm.

Throw away profit and greed, and there won't be any thieves.

A man is born gentle and weak. At death, he is hard and stiff. Green plants are tender and filled with sap. At death, they are withered and dry. Therefore, the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death, and the gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.

Words spoken about the Way have no taste. When looked at, there's not enough to see. When listened to, there's not enough to hear. When used, it is never exhausted.

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

. . . These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife, always chipping away at the Tao, trying to render it graspable and manageable. But that which is beyond form is ungraspable, and that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable. There is, however, this consolation: She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her fingertips.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

Not all spiritual paths lead to the harmonious Oneness. Indeed, most are detours and distractions, nothing more.