He who controls others may be powerful,
but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
- Lao Tzu
He who talks more is sooner exhausted.
- Lao Tzu
One can not reflect in streaming water.
Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
- Lao Tzu 
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.
- Lao Tzu
A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu
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.
- Lao Tzu
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- Lao Tzu (Chinese Proverb)
He who is contented is rich.
- Lao Tzu
Treat those who are good with goodness,
and also treat those who are not good with goodness.
Thus goodness is attained.
Be honest to those who are honest,
and be also honest to those who are not honest.
Thus honesty is attained.
- Lao Tzu
The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu
To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.
- Lao Tzu
Silence is a source of great strength.
- Lao Tzu
He who knows others is wise.
He who knows himself is enlightened.
- Lao Tzu
Born to be wild - live to outgrow it.
- Lao Tzu
The more laws and order are made prominent,
the more thieves and robbers there will be.
- Lao Tzu
The power of intuitive understanding
will protect you from harm until the end of your days.
- Lao Tzu
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
- Lao Tzu
To love someone deeply gives you strength.
Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
- Lao Tzu
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength;
loving someone deeply gives you courage.
- Lao Tzu
Be simply yourself and don't compare or compete.
- Lao Tzu
Great acts are made up of small deeds.
- Lao Tzu
Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.
- Lao Tzu
The things that have acquired unity are these:
Heaven by unity has become clear;
Earth by unity has become steady;
The Spirit by unity has become spiritual;
The Valley by unity has become full;
All things by unity have come into existence.
- Lao Tzu
To realize that you do not understand is a virtue;
Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.
- Lao Tzu
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
"We did it ourselves."
- Lao Tzu
All difficult things have
their origin in that which is easy,
and great things in that which is small.
- Lao Tzu
The wise man looks into space,
and does not regard the small as too little,
nor the great as too much;
for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions.
- Lao Tzu
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
- Lao Tzu
At the center of your being you have the answer;
you know who you are and you know what you want.
- Lao Tzu
The wicked leader is he who the people despise.
The good leader is he who the people revere.
The great leader is he who the people say, "We did it ourselves."
- Lao Tzu
Love is of all passions the strongest,
for it attacks simultaneously the head,
the heart and the senses.
- Lao Tzu
When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.
- Lao Tzu
Ambition has one heel nailed in well,
though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.
- Lao Tzu
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.
- Lao Tzu
From wonder into wonder existence opens.
- Lao Tzu
Be merciful, moderate, and modest.
- Lao Tzu
He who obtains has little.
He who scatters has much.
- Lao Tzu
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity,
reduce selfishness, have few desires.
- Lao Tzu
Those who are highly evolved,
maintain an undiscriminating perception.
Seeing everything, labeling nothing,
they maintain their awareness of the Great Oneness.
Thus they are supported by it.
- Lao Tzu
The Tao abides in non-action,
Yet nothing is left undone.
- Lao Tzu
A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort
is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
- Lao Tzu
When a nation is filled with strife,
then do patriots flourish.
- Lao Tzu
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.
- Lao Tzu
If you would take, you must first give,
this is the beginning of intelligence.
- Lao Tzu
Those who have knowledge, don't predict.
Those who predict, don't have knowledge.
- Lao Tzu
Can you let go of words and ideas,
attitudes and expectations?
If so, then the Tao will loom into view.
- Lao Tzu
Do the difficult things while they are easy
and do the great things while they are small.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
- Lao Tzu
I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize.
The first is gentleness;
the second is frugality;
the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others.
Be gentle and you can be bold;
be frugal and you can be generous;
avoid putting yourself before others
and you can become a leader among men.
- Lao Tzu
It is better to do one's own duty,
however defective it may be,
than to follow the duty of another,
however well one may perform it.
He who does his duty as
his own nature reveals it, never sins.
- Lao Tzu
I do not concern myself with gods and spirits
either good or evil, nor do I serve any.
- Lao Tzu
Don't think you can attain total awareness and whole enlightenment
without proper discipline and practice. This is egomania.
Appropriate rituals channel your emotions
and life energy toward the light.
Without the discipline to practice them,
you will tumble constantly backward into darkness.
- Lao Tzu
Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.
Do not overdo it.
- Lao Tzu
Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
- Lao Tzu
The Master acts without doing, and everything gets done.
- Lao Tzu
The softest things in the world overcome
the hardest things in the world.
- Lao Tzu
A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
- Lao Tzu
He who conquers others is strong;
He who conquers himself is mighty.
- Lao Tzu
An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.
- Lao Tzu
The key to growth is the introduction of
higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
- Lao Tzu
Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.
- Lao-Tzu
A leader is most effective when people barely know he exists.
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
his troops will feel they did it themselves.
- Lao Tzu
Do not attempt to conquer the world with force,
for force only causes resistance.
- Lao Tzu
Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
- Lao Tzu
Life and death are one thread,
the same line viewed from different sides.
- Lao Tzu
I confess that there is nothing to teach:
no religion, no science, no writings
which will lead your mind back to Spirit.
Today I speak this way, tomorrow that,
but always the Path is beyond words and beyond mind.
- Lao Tzu
(paraphrase)
Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.
- Lao Tzu
Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao Tzu
Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline;
simulated fear postulates courage;
simulated weakness postulates strength.
- Lao Tzu
The things of this world exist;
they are; you can't refuse them.
- Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching - Book One #2 - version by Ursula K. Le Guin
When virtue is lost, benevolence appears,
when benevolence is lost right conduct appears,
when right conduct is lost, expedience appears.
Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth;
it is the beginning of disorder.
- Lao Tzu
Please sign up on the form below to receive
my Free Daily Inspiration - Daily Quotes email.
You can also search my large collection of Funny Quotes.
May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
All materials & writings are copyright © Jonathan Lockwood Huie, except for quotes and other specifically identified material which belong to their respective copyright holders if applicable.