Lao-Tzu quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Lao-Tzu

Lao-Tzu Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Lao-Tzu on Wise Famous Quotes.

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

If you give evil nothing to oppose, then virtue will return by itself.

It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.

The grace of Tao
and divine nature (Te)
are not ordered
but eternal spontaneous
action of the One

When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.

Whoever knows what is enough Will be happy with his fate.

The pot's use comes from emptiness.

However grand and high, would all decay.

As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.

262."Be square but do not cut; be sharp but do not stab; be straight forward but do not unrestrained; be bright but do not dazzle.

Although he may have brilliant prospects to look at, he quietly remains (in his proper place), indifferent to them.

He who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it.

From caring comes courage.

155. The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.

The Wise Man is square but not sharp, honest but not not malign, straight but not severe, bright but not dazzling.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

To speak little is natural. Therefore a gale does not blow a whole morning nor does a downpour last a whole day.

There is
a time to live
and a time to die
but never to reject the moment.

Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?

The skilful binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound will be impossible.

The wise person acts but does not take credit. Leads, but does not rule.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

He who speaks does not know; he who knows does not speak

Our enemies are not demons, but human beings like ourselves

Every step is on the path.

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.

Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.

When one gives undivided attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe.

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

He who has little can only gain, but gain too much and the way will be lost.

The way is easy stay on the path.

Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here.

When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself

Having to live on, one knows better than to value life too much.

Boasting of wealth and virtue brings your demise.

Only when the state is in disorder is there a need for patriotism.

How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men?

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

He will strike the blow, but will be on his guard against being vain or boastful or arrogant in consequence of it.

It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them;

The people are difficult to govern because of the (excessive) agency of their superiors (in governing them).

When a person puts on a show, trying to appear great, their mediocrity is soon exposed.

With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.

He who overcomes himself is mighty.

A bad man is a good man's job

unpretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into anything;

When the Great Tao (Way or Method) ceased to be observed, benevolence and righteousness came into vogue.

In the next age they loved them and praised them.

Heaven which by it is bright and pure;

that of the mind is in abysmal stillness;

The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong.

The more people have weapons, the more the state is in confusion.

The slaying of multitudes should be mourned with sorrow. A victory should be celebrated with the funeral rite.

Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.

Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.

Possessing rare treasures brings about harmful behavior.

Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.

Become totally empty
Quiet the restlessness of the mind
Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

A skillful soldier is not violent, an able fighter does not rage, a mighty conqueror does not give battle, a great commander is a humble man

A sage traveling all day
is never far from the supplies in his cart,
and however spectacular the views
he remains calm and composed.

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

Used gently, and without the touch of pain.

Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on itself.

Something can be beautiful, if something else is ugly.
Someone can be good, if someone else is bad.

Their work was done and their undertakings were successful, while the people all said, 'We are as we are, of ourselves!

What others fear becomes our wilderness of fear. O, it is endless!

The ten thousand things rise and fall while the self watches their return.

From self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged;

The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.

To bear and not to own; to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay.

Too many words cause exhaustion
[In the mind or from the mouth]
Better to abide in stillness

Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.

There is nothing like moderation.

The ancients were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive. The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable. Because it is unfathomable,

The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends.

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.

He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.

Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.

There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.There is no greater guilt than discontentment.And there is no greater disaster than greed.

Therefore the sufficiency of contentment is an enduring and unchanging sufficiency.

Nature does not play favourites, it regards its creations without sentimentality. Therefore the wise person also acts in this way.

What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.

In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.

Peace is our original state

He who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.

He who goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will.

A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.

And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about his low position), no one finds fault with him.

Having arrived at this point of non-action, there is nothing which he does not do.

Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes.

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

He who asserts his own views is not distinguished;

The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil.

To Know others is perceptive,
to know yourself is wise.
To conquer others is forceful,
to conquer yourself is strong.

Seeing our own smallness is called insight, honoring our own tenderness is called strenght.

Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.