Lao Tzu Quotes (290 Quotes)

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

A mans excellence is like that of water It benefits all things without striving It takes to the low places shunned by men. Water is akin to Tao.... In all the earth nothing weaker than water, Yet in attacking the hard, nothing superior, Nothing so certain in wearing down strength There is no way to resist it. Note then The weak conquer the strong, The yielding outlast the aggressors.

Most of the world's religions serve only to strengthen attachments to false concepts such as self and other, life and death, heaven and earth, and so on. Those who become entangled in these false ideas are prevented from perceiving the Integral Oneness.

Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.

Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.

When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty, There arises the recognition of ugliness. When they all know the good as good, There arises the recognition of evil.

The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things.... The complete whole is the complete whole. So also is any part the complete whole.... But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one. The universe is already a harmonious oneness just realize it.

Abandon fancy theologies and imaginary ideas and do some ordinary daily work... Engage in this work with unswerving kindness and unending patience.

... integral wisdom involves a direct participation in every moment the observer and the observed are dissolved in the light of pure awareness, and no mental concepts or attitudes are present to dim that light.

The highest truth cannot be put into words. Therefore the greatest teacher has nothing to say. He simply gives himself in service, and never worries.

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

The great rulers - the people do not notice their existence The lesser ones - they love and praise them The still lesser ones - they fear them The still lesser ones - they despise them.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

Know honor, Yet keep humility. Be the valley of the universe Being the valley of the universe, Ever true and resourceful, Return to the state of the uncarved block.

By following this simple path, you become extraordinary, unfathomable, a being of profound cosmic subtlety. You outlive time and space by realizing the subtle truth of the universe.

The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself it gives life to others as it transforms

The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

Gently eliminating all obstacles to his own understanding, he constantly maintains his unconditional sincerity. His humility, perseverance, and adaptability evoke the response of the universe and fill him with divine light.

If I have even just a little sense, I will walk on the main road and my only fear will be of straying from it. Keeping to the main road is easy, But people love to be sidetracked.

From What-is all the world of things was born But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.

By steadily disciplining the animal nature, until it becomes one pointed, it is possible to establish conscious awareness of The Eternal.

Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish don't overdo it.

Why not simply honor your parents, love your children, help your brothers and sisters, be faithful to your friends, care for your mate with devotion, complete your work cooperatively and joyfully, assume responsibility for problems, practice virtue without first demanding it of others, understand the highest truths yet retain an ordinary manner That would be true clarity, true simplicity, true mastery.

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 shou

Merged and undifferentiated, like muddy water.

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

Yielding is the way of the Tao.

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

Take time to listen to what is said without words, to obey the law too subtle to be written, to worship the unnameable and to embrace the unformed.

He who knows how to be aggressive, and yet remains patient, becomes a receptacle for all of Nature's lessons.

He who gains a victory over other men is strong but he who gains a victory over himself is all powerful.

He who is attached to things will suffer much.

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say We have done this ourselves.

How can one liberate the many By first liberating his own being. He does this not by elevating himself, but by lowering himself. He lowers himself to that which is simple, modest, true integrating it into himself, he becomes a master of simplicity, modesty, truth.

He who knows himself is enlightened.

Fail to honor people,they fail to honor you but of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aims fulfilled, they will all say, 'We did this ourselves.'

To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.

Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.

The man of superior virtue is not conscious of his virtue, And in this way he really possesses virtue. The man of inferior virtue never loses sight of his virtue, And in this way he loses his virtue.

With good and harm, with honor and disgrace. This therefore is the highest state of man.

Going forward seems like retreat ...

When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.

To know you have enough is to be rich.

Acting without design, occupying oneself without making a business of it, finding the great in what is small and the many in the few, repaying injury with kindness, effecting difficult things while they are easy, and managing great things in their beginnings this is the method of Tao.

Therefore the sage is as pointed as a square but does not pierce. He is as acute as a knife but does not cut. He is as straight as an unbent line but does not extend. He is as bright as light but does not dazzle.

I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.

From caring comes courage.

The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

The new life created by the final integration is self-aware yet without ego, capable of inhabiting a body yet not attached to it, and guided by wisdom rather than emotion. Whole and virtuous, it can never die.

It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.