Lao-Tzu Quotes

#1. Those who speak do not know.
Those who know do not speak.

Lao-Tzu

#2. In the next age they loved them and praised them.

Lao-Tzu

#3. He who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him.

Lao-Tzu

#4. He who conquers other has force; he who conquers himself has strength.

Lao-Tzu

#5. The kingdom is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing.

Lao-Tzu

#6. The Tao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Tao which is skilful at imparting (to all things what they need) and making them complete.

Lao-Tzu

#7. The first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.

Lao-Tzu

#8. But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life entrusted to him for a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon.

Lao-Tzu

#9. If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become filial and kindly.

Lao-Tzu

#10. Stop trying to leave, and you shall arrive; stop seeking, and you shall see; stop running away, and you shall be found.

Lao-Tzu

#11. The best of all leaders is the one who helps people so that eventually they don't need him.

Lao-Tzu

#12. He who overcomes himself is mighty.

Lao-Tzu

#13. Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence.

Lao-Tzu

#14. Great, it passes on (in constant flow).

Lao-Tzu

#15. The road you can talk about is not the road you can walk on

Lao-Tzu

#16. When turmoil rules, go in.

Lao-Tzu

#17. One who understands others has knowledge; one who understands himself has wisdom. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self needs strength.

Lao-Tzu

#18. Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Have the patience to wait! Be still and allow the mud to settle.

Lao-Tzu

#19. The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

Lao-Tzu

#20. Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.

Lao-Tzu

#21. It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.

Lao-Tzu

#22. The best runner leaves no tracks

Lao-Tzu

#23. He who conquers others is strong;
He who conquers himself is mighty.

Lao-Tzu

#24. Heaven is long-enduring, and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves.

Lao-Tzu

#25. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao.

Lao-Tzu

#26. To know that you do not know is the best.
To think you know when you do not is a disease.
Recognizing this disease as a disease is to be free of it.

Lao-Tzu

#27. Rather than act like the lord of the manor,
I would rather behave like a guest.
Rather than advance an inch,
I would rather retreat a foot.

Lao-Tzu

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

Lao-Tzu

#29. If you don't stand sincere by your words
how sincere can the people be?
Take great care over words, treasure them.

Lao-Tzu

#30. To know others is wisdom;
To know yourself is enlightenment;
To master others requires force;
To master yourself requires true strength.

Lao-Tzu

#31. Things form and never know decay.

Lao-Tzu

#32. Countless words
count less
than the silent balance
between yin and yang

Lao-Tzu

#33. Allow your life to unfold naturally Know that it too is a vessel of perfection Just as you breathe in and breathe out Sometimes you're ahead and other times behind Sometimes you're strong and other times weak Sometimes you're with people and other times alone

Lao-Tzu

#34. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao-Tzu

#35. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.

Lao-Tzu

#36. For to be over-developed is to hasten decay, and this is against Tao, and what is against Tao will soon cease to be.

Lao-Tzu

#37. The Tao that can be described is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.

Lao-Tzu

#38. He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

Lao-Tzu

#39. I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct.

Lao-Tzu

#40. Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.

Lao-Tzu

#41. A good traveler leaves no track.

Lao-Tzu

#42. To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.

Lao-Tzu

#43. Work at things before they've begun
and establish order before confusion sets in,
for a tree you can barely reach around
grows from the tiniest rootlet,
a nine-tiered tower
starts as a basket of dirt,
a thousand-mile journey
begins with a single step.

Lao-Tzu

#44. To know non-knowing is optimal
to imagine one knows
is affliction of mind

Lao-Tzu

#45. Giving birth without possessing,
animating without subjecting,
fostering without dominating.

Lao-Tzu

#46. If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty.

Lao-Tzu

#47. He who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks) from day to day to diminish (his doing).

Lao-Tzu

#48. Revere the unity of all-that-is
carry out your daily activities with compassion;
if you do not limit your compassion,
you yourself will not be limited.

Lao-Tzu

#49. Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

Lao-Tzu

#50. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Lao-Tzu

#51. What is a good man but a bad man's teacher. What is a bad man but a good man's job.

Lao-Tzu

#52. Those who do not lose their base endure. Those who die but do not perish have longevity.

Lao-Tzu

#53. There is no greater misfortune than not knowing what is enough. There is no greater fault than the desire to possess.

Lao-Tzu

#54. He who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged;

Lao-Tzu

#55. The giant tree starts out as the tiniest shoot, the tallest tower starts out as a single brick, the longest journey starts with the first step.

Lao-Tzu

#56. Material and infinite are inseparable
Appreciating their interconnectedness
is the gateway to understanding

Lao-Tzu

#57. He who, being a man, remains a woman, becomes a universal channel. Eternal virtue will flow through him. He will become a child again.

Lao-Tzu

#58. One gains by losing and loses by gaining.

Lao-Tzu

#59. The wise person leads by remaining in the background.

Lao-Tzu

#60. Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.

Lao-Tzu

#61. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

Lao-Tzu

#62. Wild winds never last all morning
and fierce rains never last all day.

Lao-Tzu

#63. Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one's growth.

Lao-Tzu

#64. To Know others is perceptive,
to know yourself is wise.
To conquer others is forceful,
to conquer yourself is strong.

Lao-Tzu

#65. Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Lao-Tzu

#66. It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.

Lao-Tzu

#67. If the force of arms is considered the only means of authority, it is not an auspicious instrument.

Lao-Tzu

#68. He who feels punctured
Must once have been a bubble,
He who feels unarmed
Must have carried arms,
He who feels belittled
Must have been consequential,
He who feels deprived
Must have had privilege.

Lao-Tzu

#69. The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.

Lao-Tzu

#70. When one knows that he is his mother's child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities of) the mother that belong to him, to the end of his life he will be free from all peril.

Lao-Tzu

#71. And that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.

Lao-Tzu

#72. He who asserts his own views is not distinguished;

Lao-Tzu

#73. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far from his baggage waggons.

Lao-Tzu

#74. Profound it is, dark and obscure;

Lao-Tzu

#75. Composure is the ruler of instability.

Lao-Tzu

#76. If you try to cut wood like a master carpenter,
you will only hurt your hand.

Lao-Tzu

#77. Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.

Lao-Tzu

#78. Will work but ill, and disappointment bring.

Lao-Tzu

#79. A man can achieve his own happiness only by pursuing the happiness of others, because it is only by forgetting about his own happiness that he can become happy.

Lao-Tzu

#80. Manage affairs before they are in a mess.

Lao-Tzu

#81. The reality of the building does not consist of the roof and walls, but the space within to be lived.

Lao-Tzu

#82. If its deep mystery we would sound;

Lao-Tzu

#83. It carries them through their processes and does not vaunt its ability in doing so;

Lao-Tzu

#84. If you show yourself, you will not be seen. If you affirm yourself, you will not shine. If you boast, you will have no merit. If you promote yourself, you will have no success.

Lao-Tzu

#85. Thus it was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of faith in them ensued (in the people).

Lao-Tzu

#86. A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.

Lao-Tzu

#87. To be worn out is to be renewed.

Lao-Tzu

#88. Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.

Lao-Tzu

#89. Where there is lack of faith, There is a lack of respect. Employ reticence, and care with words. When the work is done and the task complete The people will say: 'It just happened.

Lao-Tzu

#90. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

Lao-Tzu

#91. But if desire always within us be,

Lao-Tzu

#92. A skillful soldier is not violent, an able fighter does not rage, a mighty conqueror does not give battle, a great commander is a humble man

Lao-Tzu

#93. Thirty spokes share one hub in non-being lies the use of the cart knead clay to make vessels in non-being lies the use of the vessel cut out doors and windows to make a house
therefore form being comes what is usable and from non-being comes what is essential.

Lao-Tzu

#94. That (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one with the other;

Lao-Tzu

#95. Keep life and lose those other things;

Lao-Tzu

#96. Allow the heart to empty itself of all turmoil! Retrieve the utter tranquility of the mind from which you issued.
Although all forms are dynamic,and we all grow and transform,each of us is compelled to return to our root. Our root is quietude.

Lao-Tzu

#97. The difficult problems in life always start off being simple. Great affairs always start off being small.

Lao-Tzu

#98. When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.

Lao-Tzu

#99. In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.

Lao-Tzu

#100. (Then) appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.

Lao-Tzu