Authors
Topics
Lists
Pictures
Resources
More about Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu Quotes
210 Sourced Quotes
Source
Report...
Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and look out at the stars. This practice should answer the question..... The master settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky. By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Countless words
count less
than the silent balance
between yin and yang
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
The truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
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.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Take care of what is difficult while it is still easy, and deal with what will become big while it is yet small.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
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
Source
Report...
What man has more than enough and gives it to the world? Only the man of Tao.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Approach the universe with Tao, And evil will have no power. Not that evil is not powerful, But its power will not be used to harm others.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
The best way to manage anything is by making use of its own nature.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
.. These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife, always chipping away at the Tao, trying to render it graspable and manageable. But that which is beyond form is ungraspable, and that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable. There is, however, this consolation: She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her fingertips.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Live simply and virtuously, true to your nature, drawing no line between what is spiritual and what is not.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Why are the people rebellious? Because the rulers interfere too much. Therefore they are rebellious.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Because clarity and enlightenment are within your own nature, they are regained without moving an inch.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Can you be still and look inside?If so, then you know the truth is always available, and always responsive.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
He who stands on tiptoe is not steady. He who strides cannot maintain the pace. He who makes a show is not enlightened. He who is self-righteous is not respected. He who boasts achieves nothing. He who brags will not endure. According to followers of the Tao, "These are extra food and unnecessary luggage." They do not bring happiness, therefore followers of the Tao avoid them.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
The mature person perceives the fruitlessness of rigid, external methodologies.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Conquering others takes force, conquering yourself is true strength.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil. Therefore having and not having arise together. Difficult and easy complement each other. Long and short contrast each other. High and low rest upon each other. Voice and sound harmonize each other. Front and back follow one another.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
Creating without claiming, Doing without taking credit, Guiding without interfering, This is Primal Virtue.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don't analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
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
Source
Report...
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
Source
Report...
The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable 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.
Lao Tzu
Source
Report...
To know how little one knows is to have genuine knowledge. Not to know how little one knows is to be deluded. Only those who know when they are deluded can free themselves from such delusion. The intelligent people are not deluded, because they know and accept their ignorance as ignorance, and thereby have genuine knowledge.
Lao Tzu
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Quote of the day
Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.
Dorothy L. Sayers
Lao Tzu
Born:
604 BC
Died:
531 BC
(aged 73)
Bio:
Laozi was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, and as a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions.
Known for:
Tao Te Ching
The Way and Its Power
Tao: The Way
Most used words:
tao
people
sage
heaven
virtue
mind
man
hard
day
action
earth
life
death
name
knowledge
Lao Tzu on Wikipedia
Lao Tzu works on Wikisource
Suggest an edit or a new quote
Lao Tzu Quotes
Lao Tzu Short Quotes
Quotes about Lao Tzu
Chinese Philosopher Quotes
Philosopher Quotes
Ancient Philosopher Quotes
Related People
Confucius
Chinese Philosopher
Zhuang Zhou
Chinese Philosopher
Mencius
Chinese Philosopher
Sun Tzu
Chinese Philosopher
Han Fei
Chinese Philosopher
Featured Authors
Lists
Predictions that didn't happen
If it's on the Internet it must be true
Remarkable Last Words (or Near-Last Words)
Picture Quotes
Confucius
Philip James Bailey
Eleanor Roosevelt
Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Popular Topics
life
love
nature
time
god
power
human
mind
work
art
heart
thought
men
day
×
Lib Quotes