Lao Tzu Quotes

210 Sourced Quotes

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, Having bestowed all he has on others, he has yet more; having given all he has to others, he is richer still.

Lao Tzu
Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?

Lao Tzu
Not all spiritual paths lead to the harmonious Oneness. Indeed, most are detours and distractions, nothing more.

Lao Tzu
Too much success is not an advantage.
Do not tinkle like jade
Or clatter like stone chimes.

Lao Tzu
There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontentment. And there is no greater disaster than greed.

Lao Tzu
Know honor, Yet keep humility. Be the valley of the universe! Being the valley of the universe, Ever true and resourceful, Return to the state of the uncarved block.

Lao Tzu
To consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men; and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom.

Lao Tzu
Great talents ripen late; the highest notes are hard to hear.

Lao Tzu
In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In daily life, be competent. In action, be aware of the time and the season.

Lao Tzu
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.

Lao Tzu
Going back to the origin is called peace; it means reversion to destiny. Reversion to destiny is called eternity. Those who know eternity are called enlightened.

Lao Tzu
The female always overcomes the male by tranquillity,
And by tranquillity she is underneath.

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

Lao Tzu
Don't think you can attain total awareness and whole enlightenment without proper discipline and practice. This is egomania. Appropriate rituals channel your emotions and life energy toward the light. Without the discipline to practice them, you will tumble constantly backward into darkness.

Lao Tzu
When armies are mobilized and issues joined, The man who is sorry over the fact will win.

Lao Tzu
With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy I can be liberal; shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a vessel of the highest honour.

Lao Tzu
Those who know do not speak; Those who speak do not know. Stop up the openings, Close down the doors, Rub off the sharp edges. Unravel all confusion. Harmonize the light, Give up contention: This is called finding the unity of life.

Lao Tzu
Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; and shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets one's heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he or she is automatically involved in fear of losing status.

Lao Tzu
A tower of nine storeys begins with a heap of earth.
The journey of a thousand li starts from where one stands.

Lao Tzu
If you scramble about in search of inner peace, you will lose your inner peace.

Lao Tzu
See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things

Lao Tzu
To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

Lao Tzu
Something mysteriously formed, Born before heaven and earth. In the silence and the void, Standing alone and unchanging, Ever present and in motion.

Lao Tzu
To realize that our knowledge is ignorance, This is a noble insight. To regard our ignorance as knowledge, This is mental sickness. Only when we are sick of the sickness Shall we cease to be sick. The Sage is not sick, being sick of sickness; This is the secret of health.

Lao Tzu
Some help others in order to receive blessings and admiration. This is simply meaningless. Some cultivate themselves in part to serve others, in part to serve their own pride. They will understand, at best, half of the truth. But those who improve themselves for the sake of the world - to these, the whole truth of the universe will be revealed.

Lao Tzu