Laozi Quotes

The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center.

Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity

The Master doesn't try to be powerful;
thus he is truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
thus he never has enough.

The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always ding things,
yet many more are left to be done.
[…]
Therefore the Master concerns himself
With the depths and not the surface,
With the fruit and not the flower.
[…]
Teaching without words,
Performing without actions:
That is the Master’s way.
[…]
The Master arrives without leaving,
Sees the light without looking,
Achieves without doing a thing.
[…]
The Master is above the people,
And no one feels oppressed.
She goes ahead of the people,
And no feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to her.
Because she completes with no one,
No one can complete with her.

Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

The further one goes, the less one knows.

Failure is an opportunity.
If you blame someone else,
there is no end to the blame.
Therefore the Master
fulfills her own obligations
and corrects her own mistakes.
She does what she needs to do
and demands nothing of others.

If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.

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

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.

Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.

To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.

What I hear, I forget. What I say, I remember. What I do, I understand.

An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox

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