Laozi Quotes

If Heaven were not clear it might rend. If Earth were not firm it might crumble.

The purest white seems stained.

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 you fail to honor your people, They will fail to honor you; It is said of a good leader that When the work is done, the aim fulfilled, The people will say, "We did this ourselves."

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

Once you arrive {at a spontaneous awareness of the Great Oneness}, remember: it isn't necessary to struggle to maintain unity with it. All you have to do is participate in it.

Without stirring abroad, One can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window One can see the way of heaven. The further one goes The less one knows.

Man is ruled by Earth. Earth is ruled by Heaven. Heaven is ruled by the Way. The Way is ruled by itself.

We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.

The real key to health and happiness and success is self knowledge

To manage your mind, know that there is nothing, and then relinquish all attachment to nothingness.

Trustable words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustable.

The sage seeks freedom from desire. He does not collect precious things. He learns not to hold on to ideas. He brings men back to what they have lost.

The sage regards things as difficult, and thereby avoids difficulty.

Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity.

If one desires to receive one must first give. This is called profound understanding.

The longer you travel, the less you know.

The more we give to others, the more we are increased.

The most eloquent seems to stutter.

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

Those who know when to halt are unharmed.

The most complete seems lacking. Yet in use it is not exhausted.

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.

Let people return to making knots on ropes, instead of writing.

Those who are one with deprivation are deprived of deprivation.

The most able seems clumsy.

The moment truth is asserted, it becomes false.

Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

The sage is one with the world, and lives in harmony with it.

He who regards the world as he does the fortune of his own body can govern the world. He who loves the world as he does his own body can be entrusted with the world.

Those who would take over the earth and shape it to their will, never, I notice succeed.

Peace is our natural state of being.

Harmony is called the eternal. Knowing the eternal is called clarity.

The most straight seems curved.

First, we must do our own personal work, then we tend the necessary work of our family, then our community, then the world.

The Master acts without doing, and everything gets done.

A sound man is good at salvage, at seeing nothing is lost

Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish, too much handling will spoil it.

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.

The feminine values are the fountain of bliss. Know the masculine, Keep to the feminine.

That the soft overcomes the hard, and the yielding overcomes the resistant, is a fact known by all, but practiced by few.

Those who defeat others are strong, those who defeat themselves are mighty.

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

A foolish man is always doing, Yet much remains to be done.

Use the Light that dwells within you to regain your natural clarity of sight.

Why do the people think so little of death? Because the rulers demand too much of life. Therefore the people take death lightly.

Those who have hardened, have a covenant with Death. Those who remain gentle are conjoined with Life.

Seal the openings, shut the doors, dull the sharpness, untie the knots, dim the light, become one with the dust. This is called the profound union.

He who possess virtue in abundance may be compared to an infant.

One's own self or material goods, which has more worth? Loss (of self) or possession (of goods), which is the greater evil? He who loves most, spends most, He who hoards much loses much