Laozi Quotes

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnameable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding.

Nothing that can be said in words is worth saying.

The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness.

The Master is her own physician.
She has healed herself of all knowing.
Thus she is truly whole.

If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.

Become totally empty
Quiet the restlessness of the mind
Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness

If you want to govern the people,
You must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead people,
You must learn how to follow them.

Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.

The universe is deathless; Is deathless because, having no finite self, it stays infinite. A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further ahead of himself, By not confining himself to himself sustains himself outside himself: By never being an end in himself he endlessly becomes himself.

A violent wind does not last for a whole morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day.

There is
a time to live
and a time to die
but never to reject the moment.

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

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. 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.

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

Truthful words are not fancy; fancy words are not truthful. The good are not argumentative; the argumentative are not quite good. The wise know the truth not by storing up knowledge; those who focus on storing up knowledge do not know the truth. The sage does not hoard for herself. The more she helps others, the richer life she lives. The more she gives to others, the more abundance she realizes. The Tao of heaven benefits all beings without harming anyone. The Tao of the sage assists the people without competing with anyone.