Laozi Quotes

Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.

The usefulness of a pot comes from its emptiness.

No misfortune is worse than underestimating the enemy. Underestimating the enemy, I risk losing my treasure.

The best people are like water, which benefits all things and does not compete with them. It stays in lowly places that others reject. This is why it is so similar to the Way.

{The cleansing of spiritual contamination} is accomplished by offering one's talent, resources, and life to the world.

To have little is to possess.

Build up virtue, and you master all.

Can you make your soul embrace the One and not lose it?

The brittle is easy to shatter.

A tree as wide as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.

Pounding an edge to sharpness will not make it last.

Racing through the field and hunting make the mind wild.

I am wearied, as if I lacked a home to go to.

Other people have more than they need, I alone seem wanting.

By compassion one can be brave.

The sage honors his part of the settlement, but does not exact his due from others.

I have no desire to desire, and people become like the uncarved wood by themselves.

The sage desires no desire, does not value rare treasures, learns without learning, recovers what people have left behind.

Gain or loss, what is worse?

When the palace is magnificent, the fields are filled with weeds, and the granaries are empty.

Some have lavish garments, carry sharp swords, and feast on food and drink. They possess more than they can spend. This is called the vanity of robbers. It is certainly not the Way.

A good wanderer leaves no trace.

The good leader carries water for his people.

When two opposing sides meet in battle, the one without an enemy will be victorious.

Water does not force its way.

When everyone sees good, then bad exists.

He (the sage) is good to those who are good. He is also good to those who are not good. That is the virtue of good.

Must one dread what others dread?

The rigid and big belong below. The soft and weak belong above.

What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.

When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.

To be brave without compassion, generous without moderation, and rule without refraining from being first in the world, are certain deaths.

Better stop short than fill to the brim. Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt. Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.

Stretch the bow to the very full, and you will wish you had stopped in time.

The wise man doesn't compete; therefore nobody can compete with him.

Whoever is capable of knowing when they have had enough will always be satisfied.

He who has little will receive. He who has much will be embarrassed.

The best way to live / is to be like water / For water benefits all things / and goes against none of them.

Misfortune is the root of good fortune; good fortune gives birth to misfortune.

The Eternal generates the One. The One generates the Two. The Two generates the Three. The Three generates all things.

Do not strive for the shine of jade, but clatter like stone.

What Heaven detests, who knows why? Even the sage considers it difficult.

When much virtue is achieved, nothing is not overcome.

Bend and you will be straight.

It is the child that sees the primordial secret in Nature and it is the child of ourselves we return to. The child within us is simple and daring enough to live the Secret.

When great armies go to war, Sorrow is the sole winner.

A good mooring needs no knot, still no one can untie it.

Wear down to be renewed.

Going on means going far, going far means returning.

When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating.