Lao Tzu Quotes

When people see some things as beautiful,other things become ugly.When people see some things as good,other things become bad.

Following the Universal Way means practicing selflessness and extending virtue to the world unconditionally. In this way one not only eliminates the heavy contamination accumulated throughout many lifetimes but may also bring about the possibility of restoring one's original divine nature and become an integral being of the multi-universe.

Let go of rousing speechand identification with thoughtsUntil your endyou will never be jaded

If you understand others you are smart.If you understand yourself you are illuminated.If you overcome others you are powerful.If you overcome yourself you have strength.If you know how to be satisfied you are rich.If you can act with vigor, you have a will.If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting.If you die without loss, you are eternal.

When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself

Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

LoveEmbracing Tao, you become embraced.Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.Clearing your vision, you become clear.Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.Opening your heart, you become accepted.Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.Bearing and nurturing,Creating but not owning,Giving without demanding,Controlling without authority,This is love.

The more laws and restrictions there are,The poorer people become....The more rules and regulations,The more thieves and robbers.

The past has no power to stop youfrom being present now.Only your grievance aboutthe past can do that.What is grievance?The baggage of oldthought and emotion.

The heart that gives, gathers.

Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here.

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

Stop thinking, and end your problems.

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.

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

Allow the heart to empty itself of all turmoil! Retrieve the utter tranquility of the mind from which you issued.Although all forms are dynamic,and we all grow and transform,each of us is compelled to return to our root. Our root is quietude.

The reality of the building does not consist in the roof and walls but in the space within to be lived in.

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.

Love is a decision - not an emotion!

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Startwith what they know. Build with what they have. But with the bestleaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people willsay 'We have done this ourselves.

Nature is not human-hearted.

The difficult problems in life always start off being simple. Great affairs always start off being small.

There isa time to liveand a time to diebut never to reject the moment.

Heaven's net is wide, but its mesh is fine

Be content with what you have;rejoice in the way things are.When you realize there is nothing lacking,the whole world belongs to you.

Thus it is said:The path into the light seems dark,the path forward seems to go back,the direct path seems long,true power seems weak,true purity seems tarnished,true steadfastness seems changeable,true clarity seems obscure,the greatest are seems unsophisticated,the greatest love seems indifferent,the greatest wisdom seems childish.The Tao is nowhere to be found.Yet it nourishes and completes all things.

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.

As to the roaming of sages,They move in utter emptiness,Let their minds meander in the great nothingness;They run beyond conventionAnd go through where there is no gateway.They listen to the soundlessAnd look at the formless,They are not constrained by societyAnd not bound to its customs.- Lao-tzu