Laozi Quotes

The one who does not stray away from her/his nature will live long.

The noble must make humility his root.

Pursue without interfering.

Take care of what is difficult while it is still easy, and deal with what will become big while it is yet small.

Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of water will happiness be achieved.

All things such as grass and trees are soft and supple in life. At their death they are withered and dry.

The truly great ones rely on substance, and not on surface, hold on to the fruit, and not to the flower.

The True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.

People take death lightly. They expect too much of life. That is why people take death lightly.

Greed is costly. Assembled fortunes are lost.

Realize thy Simple Self, Embrace thy Original Nature.

The highest tone is hard to hear.

Life is going forth; death is returning home.

The value of actions lies in their timing.

We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see, but these things are only the effects of something subtle.

Geese are white, crows are black. No argument will change this.

The weak overcomes the strong. The soft overcomes the hard. Everybody in the world knows this, still nobody makes use of it.

Goodie-goodies are the thieves of virtue.

The truest sayings are paradoxical.

The Tao's principle is spontaneity.

Everything in the universe is created from something, which in turn is created from nothing.

Confidence is the greatest friend.

He who regards many things easy will find many difficulties. Therefore the sage regards things difficult, and consequently never has difficulties.

On the one hand, loss implies gain; on the other hand, gain implies loss.

Supreme good is like water. Water greatly benefits all things, without conflict. It flows through places that people loathe. Thereby it is close to the Way.

Without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony.

Those who are content suffer no disgrace.

To know one's ignorance is the best part of knowledge.

He does not struggle with anyone - thus no one can vanquish him.

Nature doesn't make long speeches.

The heavy is the root of the light. The tranquil is the ruler of the hasty.

Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.

The True Person avoids extremes, self-indulgence, and extravagance.

The highest benevolence acts without purpose.

People who have to fight for their living and are not afraid to die for it are higher persons than those who, stationed high, are too fat to dare to die.

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.

The way of heaven is to help and not harm.

Heaven and Earth are not kind. They regard all things as offerings.

When the great Tao is abandoned, benevolence and righteousness arise.

A violent wind does not outlast the morning; a squall of rain does not outlast the day. Such is the course of Nature. And if Nature herself cannot sustain her efforts long, how much less can man!

Only he who does not seek to be ahead of others is capable of living in harmony with everyone.

He who, conscious of being strong, is content to be weak, he shall be the paragon of mankind. Being the paragon of mankind, Virtue will never desert him. He returns to the state of a little child.

The Way to Heaven has no favorites. It is always with the good man.

The inner is the foundation of the outer. The still is master of the restless. The Sage travels all day yet never leaves his inner treasure.

There was something that finished chaos, born before Heaven and Earth.

As for the "proper way:" it is the beginning of disorder.

Cautious, like crossing a river in the winter.

To delight in conquest is to delight in slaughter.

Good words shall gain you honor in the marketplace, but good deeds shall gain you friends among men.

Though tightly the net of words forms, how surely truth slips out.