Laozi Quotes

New Beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

Some lose yet gain, others gain and yet lose.

What is firmly rooted cannot be pulled out.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it

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

Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.

With few there is attainment. With much there is confusion.

He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know.

The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. He prefers what is within to what is without.

If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty. If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, give everything up.

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
Through this I know the advantage of taking no action.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.

Your inner being guard, and keep it free.