Laozi Quotes

Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.

Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right.

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.

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.

One who believes in himself has no need to convince others.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

In order to eliminate the negative influences, simply ignore them.

Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.

The leader is a teacher who succeeds without taking credit. And, because credit is not taken, credit is received.

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.

If the majority doesn't laugh at you, beware that you must be saying something wrong. When the majority thinks you are a fool, only then is there some possibility of you being a wise man.

Those who seek knowledge, collect something every day. Those who seek the Way, let go of something every day.

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

The world is won by those who let it go.

Make your heart like a lake, with calm, still surface, and great depths of kindness.

Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know.

If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled.

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve

In the end, The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go

You cannot receive what you don't give. Outflow determines inflow.

Be empty. Be still. Just watch everything come and go. This is the way of Nature.

True words are not pleasing. Pleasing words are not true.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple.

Failure is the foundation of success: success is the lurking place of failure.

When you let go of what you are, you become what you might be.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.

Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.

Embrace simplicity. Put others first. Desire little.

The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.

Tao loves and nourishes all things, but does not dominate it over them.

The Master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is as open as the sky.

I am good to people who are good. I am also good to people who are not good. Because Virtue is goodness.

The Tao is told is not the Tao.

A tree trunk the size of a man grows from a blade as thin as a hair. A tower nine stories high is built from a small heap of earth.

The master does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe is forever out of control, and that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Tao.

Without the tao, Kindness and compassion are replaced by law and justice; Faith and trust are supplanted by ritual and ceremony.

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

In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.

When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the people's benefit. Trust them; leave them alone.

If you can find true contentment, it will last forever.

The Tao principle is what happens of itself.

When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.

If a person seems wicked, do not cast him away. Awaken him with your words, elevate him with your deeds, repay his injury with your kindness. Do not cast him away; cast away his wickedness.

The wise man, after learning something new, is afraid to learn anything more until he has put his first lesson into practice.

The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do.

In caring for others and serving heaven, There is nothing like using restraint.

When the ancient Masters said, "If you want to be given everything, give everything up," they weren't using empty phrases. Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.

Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.