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
He who talks more is sooner exhausted.
- Lao Tzu
He who is contented is rich.
- Lao Tzu 
A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- Lao Tzu (Chinese Proverb)
One can not reflect in streaming water.
Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
- Lao Tzu
The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- 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
To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.
- 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
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
He who knows others is wise.
He who knows himself is enlightened.
- Lao Tzu
Silence is a source of great strength.
- 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
The more laws and order are made prominent,
the more thieves and robbers there will be.
- Lao Tzu
Born to be wild - live to outgrow it.
- Lao Tzu
The power of intuitive understanding
will protect you from harm until the end of your days.
- Lao Tzu
The Tao of the sage is work without effort.
Practice non-action. Work without doing.
- Lao Tzu
He who knows that enough is enough
will always have enough.
- Lao Tzu
Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao Tzu
Health is the greatest possession.
Contentment is the greatest treasure.
Confidence is the greatest friend.
Non-being is the greatest joy.
- 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
Can you let go of words and ideas,
attitudes and expectations?
If so, then the Tao will loom into view.
- Lao Tzu
Nothing is softer or more flexible than water,
yet nothing can resist it.
- Lao Tzu
The Master acts without doing, and everything gets done.
- Lao Tzu
Life and death are one thread,
the same line viewed from different sides.
- Lao Tzu
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
- Lao Tzu
How could man rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?
- Lao Tzu
Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline;
simulated fear postulates courage;
simulated weakness postulates strength.
- Lao Tzu
Truthful words are not beautiful;
beautiful words are not truthful.
Good words are not persuasive;
persuasive words are not good.
- Lao Tzu
The higher the sun rises, the less shadow it casts;
even so, the greater is the goodness, the less it covets praise;
yet cannot avoid its rewards in honors.
- Lao Tzu
He who does not trust enough,
will not be trusted.
- Lao Tzu
Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme.
Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful.
Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just.
Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.
- Lao Tzu
To manage your mind,
know that there is nothing,
and then relinquish all attachment to nothingness.
- Lao Tzu
Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish -
too much handling will spoil it.
- Lao Tzu
He who obtains has little.
He who scatters has much.
- 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
Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.
- Lao Tzu
Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative,
to which all beings owe their beginning
and which permeates all heaven.
- Lao Tzu
One who is too insistent on his own views,
finds few to agree with him.
- Lao Tzu
Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
- Lao Tzu
The sage does not hoard.
The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself,
Having bestowed all he has on others, he has yet more;
having given all he has to others, he is richer still.
- Lao Tzu
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.
- 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)
When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.
- Lao Tzu
Stay at the center
and let all things take their course.
- Lao Tzu
I do not concern myself with gods and spirits
either good or evil, nor do I serve any.
- Lao Tzu
When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.
- Lao Tzu
The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.
Neither need you do anything but be yourself.
- Lao Tzu
The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.
- 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
Simply see that you are at the center of the universe,
and accept all things and beings
as parts of your infinite body.
When you perceive that an act done to another
is done to yourself,
you have understood the great truth.
- Lao Tzu
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
To see things in the seed, that is genius.
- Lao Tzu
To love someone deeply gives you strength.
Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
- Lao Tzu
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
"We did it ourselves."
- Lao Tzu
The people are hungry:
It is because those in authority
eat up too much in taxes.
- 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
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity,
reduce selfishness, have few desires.
- Lao Tzu
The key to growth is the introduction of
higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
- Lao Tzu
If you do not change direction,
you may end up where you are heading.
- Lao Tzu
Violence, even well intentioned,
always rebounds upon oneself.
- 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
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
Be simply yourself and don't compare or compete.
- Lao Tzu
A leader is best when people barely know he exists,
not so good when people obey and acclaim him,
worst when they despise him.
But of a good leader, who talks little,
when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say, "We did this ourselves."
- Lao Tzu
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
- Lao Tzu
Be the chief but never the lord.
- 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
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
- Lao Tzu
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- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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