Top 45 Lao Tzu Quotes

If the Great Way perishes there will morality and duty. When cleverness and knowledge arise great lies will flourish. When relatives fall out with one another there will be filial duty and love. When states are in confusion there will be faithful servants.

Heaven is long-enduring, and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.

How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men?

He who is contented is rich.

A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.

To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.

The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.

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

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

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

From wonder into wonder existence opens.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

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

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.

Nature is not human hearted.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

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.

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.

Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.

He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.

Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.

He who knows himself is enlightened.

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

When the best leader‘s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’

To see things in the seed, that is genius.