Lao Tzu Quotes (290 Quotes)

So it is that some things are increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being increased.

The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.

The further one goes, the less one knows.

The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves.

The road you can talk about is not the road you can walk on

The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.

The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know.

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

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

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?

To understand the limitation of things, desire them.

He is free from self- display, and therefore he shines;

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear?

What is firmly rooted cannot be pulled out.

If good happens, good; if bad happens, good.

When goodness is lost there is morality.

If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.

When its work is accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it.

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

With no desire, at rest and still, All things go right as of their will.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.

A vessel is formed from a lump of clay with care, however, it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.

If one has love in battle one is victorious. If one has it in defense one is invincible. Whom Heaven wants to save him he protects through love.

When one gives whatever one can without restraint, the barriers of individuality break down. It no longer becomes possible to tell whether it is the student offering himself to the teacher, or the teacher offering herself to the student. One sees only two immaculate beings, reflecting one another like a pair of brilliant mirrors.

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.

If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the world belongs to you.

Great form has no shape. The Eternal is hidden and nameless. Yet it is The Eternal alone that skillfully provides for all And brings them to perfection.