Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
People are hard to govern. The rulers interfere with too much. That is why people are hard to govern.
Weapons are ominous tools. They are abhorred by all creatures. Anyone who follows the Way shuns them.
Goodness in words creates trust, goodness in thinking creates depth, goodness in giving creates love.
All men desire to free themselves solely from death; they do not know how to free themselves from life.
The value of teaching without words and accomplishing without action is understood by few in the world.
Things exalted then decay. This is going against the Way. What goes against the Way meets an early end.
There are two choices available in duality - one side or the other side. Everyting is formed from that.
Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you've got.
Those who are quiet value the words. When their task is completed, people will say: We did it ourselves.
The truly great ones rely on substance, and not on surface, hold on to the fruit, and not to the flower.
The Chinese used the symbol of tai chi, the undifferentiated reality - no separation, no left and right.
Returning to the source is stillness. It is returning to one's fate. Returning to one's fate is eternal.
Man is ruled by Earth. Earth is ruled by Heaven. Heaven is ruled by the Way. The Way is ruled by itself.
Knowledge of the eternal is all-embracing. To be all-embracing leads to righteousness, which is majestic.
All things such as grass and trees are soft and supple in life. At their death they are withered and dry.
A great country is like the lower outlet of a river. It is the world's meeting ground, the world's female.
Weapons are ominous tools. They are not the noble ruler's tools. He only uses them when he can't avoid it.
Hold on to the great image, and the whole world follows, follows unharmed, content and completely at peace.
There is another kind of wisdom, the wisdom of following - the wisdom of not taking the lead with your ego.
He who holds on to the Way seeks no excess. Since he lacks excess, he can grow old in no need to be renewed.
As soon as rules were made, names were given. There are already many names. One must know when it is enough.
Do not make them (people) weary at their work. If you do not make them weary, they will not be weary of you.
When the uncarved wood is split, its parts are put to use. When the sage is put to use, he becomes the head.
If people live in constant fear of death, and if breaking the law is punished by death, then who would dare?
No misfortune is worse than underestimating the enemy. Underestimating the enemy, I risk losing my treasure.
Those who seek knowledge, collect something every day. Those who seek the Way, let go of something every day.
For a person who lives in time, differences are the most important thing because they represent your existence.
My body is in accord with my mind, my mind with my energies, my energies with my spirit, my spirit with Nothing.
Approach your own inner life with a loving quality that accepts who you are without trying to change who you are.
The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.
Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world.
When there's no difference, there's no time, no world, no separativity - and there's no you ... nor is there an I.
Those who praise victory relish manslaughter. Those who relish manslaughter cannot reach their goals in the world.
He (the sage) is good to those who are good. He is also good to those who are not good. That is the virtue of good.
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
Wisdom is knowing that if you bend, you don't have to break. Sometimes it is necessary to go with the flow of life.
The sage acts without taking credit. He accomplishes without dwelling on it. He does not want to display his worth.
In the West the wise are usually thought of as leaders. In the East, the wise are very often though of as followers.
The world is a sacred vessel that cannot be changed. He who changes it will destroy it. He who seizes it will lose it.
What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.
When your mind is empty of prejudices you can see the Tao. When your heart is empty of desires you can follow the Tao.
Taoism is the way of water. The most frequent element or symbol refered to in Lao Tzu's wrtings is the symbol of water.
Taoism shows us how to deal with life and death by realizing everything here is transitory but its substance is eternal.
If you search everywhere, yet cannot find what you are seeking, it is because what you seek is already in your possession.
The sage desires no desire, does not value rare treasures, learns without learning, recovers what people have left behind.
The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.
An ancient gnarled tree: Too fibrous for a logger's saw, Too twisted to fit a carpenter's square, Outlasts the whole forest.
The sage is sharp but does not cut, pointed but does not pierce, forthright but does not offend, bright but does not dazzle.
The weak overcomes the strong. The soft overcomes the hard. Everybody in the world knows this, still nobody makes use of it.
My words have an origin. My deeds have a sovereign. Truly, because people do not understand this, they do not understand me.