Quotes By Lao Tzu

Silence is a source of great strength.

The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'

One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.

One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.

The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honours.

From caring comes courage.

From wonder into wonder existence opens.

Great acts are made up of small deeds.

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.

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

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.

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.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.

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

Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.

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

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.

The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.

The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.

He who is contented is rich.

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

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.