Lao Tzu Quotes
Lao Tzu Quotes
The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem.
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
Highest good is like water. Because water excels in benefiting the myriad creatures without contending with them and settles where none would like to be, it comes closest to the way.
Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.
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.
Mastering others is strength. Mastering oneself makes you fearless.
Because of a great love, one is courageous.
Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking. Centre your country in the Tao and evil will have no power. Not that it isn’t there, but you’ll be able to step out of its way. Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.
In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. Therefore the Master remains serene in the midst of sorrow. Evil cannot enter his heart. Because he has given up helping, he is people’s greatest help. True words seem paradoxical.
In the Golden Age, Rulers were unknown. In the following age Rulers were loved and praised. Next came the age When rulers were feared. Finally the age When rulers are hated.
Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Don’t think you can attain total awareness and whole enlightenment without proper discipline and practice. This is egomania. Appropriate rituals channel your emotions and life energy toward the light. Without the discipline to practice them, you will tumble constantly backward into darkness.
He who gains a victory over other men is strong; but he who gains a victory over himself is all powerful.
A man’s 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 outlasts the aggressors.
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
[The Master] doesn’t glitter like a jewel… [but is] as rugged and common as a stone.
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Lao Tzu Quotes about Attitude
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 integral being is attached to nothing and can relate to everyone with an unstructured attitude. Because of this, her very existence benefits all things.
Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.
Can you let go of words and ideas, attitudes and expectations? If so, then the Tao will loom into view.
Lao Tzu Quotes Watch your Thoughts
Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Giving
Just as the value of a house lies in its location, The value of a mind lies in its depth, The value of giving lies in the presence of a generous spirit, The value of words lies in their reliability.
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.
Giving to others selflessly and anonymously, radiating light throughout the world and illuminating your own darkness, your virtue becomes a sanctuary for yourself and all beings.
Lao Tzu Quotes about Change
A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
Lao Tzu Quotes about Education
When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Much knowledge will corrupt the heart, when partly understood, and so the people grow too smart, But neither wise nor good.
Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know.
Lao Tzu Quotes about Self
One who believes in himself has no need to convince others.
If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself, if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.
People aren’t against you; they are for themselves. The most dangerous risk of all – the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later. He who conquers others is strong, he who conquers himself is mighty.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Work
The Way of the Sage is to act but not to compete.
When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally.
Practice non-action. Work without doing.
If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Thoughts
Kind words elicit trust. Kind thoughts create depth. Kind deeds bring love.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Time
Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is to say ‘I don’t want to.’
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.
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth.
Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space: All are transient expressions of the Tao.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Leadership
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.
I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. 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.
Leadership is your ability to hide your panic from others.
A good manager is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Life
A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
At the centre of you being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.
Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Success
If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.
An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
The tree which needs two arms to span its girth sprang from the tiniest shoot. Yon tower, nine stories high, rose from a little mound of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Strength
Conquering others requires force. Conquering oneself requires strength
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.
Understanding others is knowledge, understanding oneself is enlightenment; Conquering others is power, conquering oneself is strength.
Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle. A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
Lao Tzu Quotes on Love
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Whatever is flexible and living will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.
