Laozi Quotes About Taoism
-
Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know.
→ -
Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.
→ -
There is no greater crime than desire.
→ -
The more clever and cunning people are, the stranger the events will be.
→ -
Acting without design, occupying oneself without making a business of it, finding the great in what is small and the many in the few, repaying injury with kindness, effecting difficult things while they are easy, and managing great things in their beginnings; this is the method of Tao.
→ -
Those who praise victory relish manslaughter. Those who relish manslaughter cannot reach their goals in the world.
→ -
The soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong.
→ -
There is one appointed supreme executioner. Truly, trying to take the place of the supreme executioner is like trying to carve wood like a master carpenter. Of those who try to carve wood like a master carpenter, there are few who do not injure their hands.
→ -
The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.
→ -
Stillness overcomes heat.
→ -
To be brave without compassion, generous without moderation, and rule without refraining from being first in the world, are certain deaths.
→ -
When the sage stands above people, they are not oppressed. When he leads people, they are not obstructed. The world will exalt him and not grow tired of him.
→ -
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.
→ -
Praise of power leads to weakness; Love of things leads to loss; The wise one leads by filling people's hearts; He destroys illusion and disturbs those who believe they are wise; He does nothing yet everything happens.
→ -
Those who boast are not respected.
→ -
The small is easy to scatter.
→ -
The most straight seems curved.
→ -
Who can wait in stillness while the mud settles?
→ -
The sage is one with the world, and lives in harmony with it.
→ -
When good thing are accomplished, it does not claim (or name) them. This is Te, which is close in meaning to power or virtue. It is something within a person, and it is enhanced by following the Tao, or 'that from which nothing can deviate'.
→ -
The rigid and big belong below. The soft and weak belong above.
→ -
Without the tao, Kindness and compassion are replaced by law and justice; Faith and trust are supplanted by ritual and ceremony.
→ -
Yielding is the manner of the Way.
→ -
Those who have the courage to dare will perish. Those who have the courage not to dare will live.
→ -
Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.
→ -
Having reached a high level of realization (or having accomplished anything in life), don't get excited or puffed up with pride but remain calm, humble, and in "perfect equanimity" if you want to continue in this deep state of consciousness.
→ -
The sage is sharp but does not cut, pointed but does not pierce, forthright but does not offend, bright but does not dazzle.
→ -
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
→ -
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is.
→ -
...the more you talk of it, the less you understand.
→
Related Authors
-
Mencius Philosopher -
Sun Tzu Strategist -
Friedrich Nietzsche Philologist -
Voltaire Writer -
Emperor Wu of Han Emperor of China -
Gautama Buddha Founding Figure -
Han Fei Philosopher -
Sima Qian Historian -
Rene Descartes Philosopher -
-
Jiddu Krishnamurti Writer -
G. I. Gurdjieff Teacher -
Rajneesh Guru -
Zhuangzi Philosopher -
Plato Philosopher -
Confucius Philosopher -
Zoroaster Prophet -
Aristotle Philosopher -
Xunzi Philosopher