Laozi Quotes

Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.

When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.

Thus it is said:
The path into light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak...
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.

What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.

Governing a large country is like frying a small fish.

To understand the limitation of things, desire them.

Your inner being guard, and keep it free.

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

Those who understand others are intelligent
Those who understand themselves are enlightened

Those who overcome others have strength
Those who overcome themselves are powerful

Those who know contentment are wealthy
Those who proceed vigorously have willpower

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

Look, and it can't be seen.
Listen, and it can't be heard.
Reach, and it can't be grasped.

Above, it isn't bright.
Below, it isn't dark.
Seamless, unnamable,
it returns to the realm of nothing.
Form that includes all forms,
image without an image,
subtle, beyond all conception.

Approach it and there is no beginning;
follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it,
at ease in your own life.
Just realize where you come from:
this is the essence of wisdom.

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?

Love

Embracing Tao, you become embraced.
Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.
Clearing your vision, you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you become accepted.
Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
Controlling without authority,
This is love.

The Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities. <p> It is hidden but always present. I don't know who gave birth to it. It is older than God.

The Way to do is to be.

Chanting is no more holy than listening to the murmur of a stream, couting prayer beads no more scared than simply breathing, religious robed no more spiritual than work clothes.