Laozi Quotes

The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of all things.

There is no greater disaster than discontent.

Returning is the movement of the Way.

Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.

Giving to others selflesly and anonymously, radiating light throughout the world and illuminating your own darkness, your virtue becomes a sanctuary for yourself and all beings.

He who tip-toes cannot stand; he who strides cannot walk.

Nothing is weaker than water, Yet for overcoming what is hard and strong, Nothing surpasses it.

Seeing the small is called clarity.

To understand the limitation of things, desire them.

Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding.

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is to say 'I don't want to.'

If you want to be given everything, give everything up.

The sage is sharp but does not cut, pointed but does not pierce, forthright but does not offend, bright but does not dazzle.

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.

Kindness in words creates confidence.

A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. Thus by nature's own decree, the soft and gentle are triumphant.

Understand this if nothing else: spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao are not randomly bestowed gifts, but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear?

Wise men hear and see as little children do.

See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things

If you worry more for others' beliefs, then you will be their slave.

Do nondoing, strive for non-stiving, savor the flavourless, make much of little, repay enmity with virture; plan for difficulty when it is still easy, do the great while it is still small.

When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.

Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.

The most difficult in the world must be easy in its beginning.

The best way to manage anything is by making use of its own nature.

Approach your own inner life with a loving quality that accepts who you are without trying to change who you are.

Do not look only at yourself, and you will see much. Do not justify yourself, and you will be distinguished. Do not brag, and you will have merit. Do not be prideful, and your work will endure.

Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature.

The eternal void is filled with infinite possibilities

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

The sage is not ill, because he sees illness as illness.

Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity.

There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontent. And there is no greater disaster than greed.

There is no greater fault than sensual indulgence. There is no greater misfortune than malcontent. There is no greater calamity than greed.

Don't impose your will through manipulation of aggressive emotions and actions.

Returning to the source is stillness. It is returning to one's fate. Returning to one's fate is eternal.

The more you know the less you understand.

Intelligent people know others. Enlightened people know themselves.

The more laws that are written, the more criminals are produced.

Love the whole world as if it were your self; then you will truly care for all things.

A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.

Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health.

Act without expectation.

Hold on to the center and make up your mind to rejoice in this paradise called life.

The Master doesn't seek fulfillment. For only those who are not full are able to be used which brings the feeling of completeness.

No disaster is worse than being discontented.

Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.