Lao Tzu

The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

He who is contented is rich.

Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.

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

The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honours.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.

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.

If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.

The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.

To lead people walk behind them.

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.

From caring comes courage.

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

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

An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.

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.

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

Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.

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

He who knows himself is enlightened.

Without stirring abroad, One can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window One can see the way of heaven. The further one goes The less one knows.

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

All things in the world come from being. And being comes from non-being.

I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.

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

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

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the Named is the mother of all things.

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

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

There was something undifferentiated and yet complete, which existed before Heaven and Earth. Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change. It operates everywhere and is free from danger. It may be considered the mother of the universe. I do not know its name; I call it Tao.

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.

Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.

Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

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

Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.

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

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

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

From wonder into wonder existence opens.

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.

People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.

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 that enough is enough will always have enough.