Lao Tzu Quotes

Lao Tzu Sayings and Quotes

A great country is like the low lands
where all the streams unite.
Practice action without striving and all will be in order.
Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.
Trying to fill life to the brim invites a curse.
For the mind to make demands upon the breath of life brings strain.
Those who delight in the slaughter of people will
never thrive among all that dwell under heaven.
Everyone knows that the yielding overcomes the stiff,
and the soft overcomes the hard.
Yet no one applies this knowledge.
Whatever has been forced to a peak of vigour approaches its decay.
This is not the way of Tao.
And that which goes against the Tao will quickly pass away.
The True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire
and filling the belly with food,
weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
The Tao is hidden and nameless;
yet, it is the Tao alone that supports all things
and brings them to completion.
I have three treasures that I cherish and hold fast.
The first is gentleness,
the second is simplicity,
the third is daring not to be first
among all things under heaven.
The Tao never strives, yet nothing is left undone.
If leaders were able to adhere to it
the ten thousand things
would develop of their own accord.
Do not look only at yourself, and you will see much.
Do not justify yourself, and you will be distinguished.
Do not brag, and you will have merit.
Do not be prideful, and your work will endure.