Back to People
Laozi Quotes
“The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.”
“The best fighter is never angry.”
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
“From wonder into wonder existence opens.”
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.”
“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”
“To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.”
“Be like water.”
“To understand the limitation of things, desire them.”
“Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.”
“Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.”
“There is a time to live and a time to die but never to reject the moment.”
“To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease. Recognizing this disease as a disease is to be free of it.”
“Because of a great love, one is courageous.”
“An over sharpened sword cannot last long.”
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
“When you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you.”
“Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.”
“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.”
“The way of heaven is to help and not harm.”
“He who talks more is sooner exhausted.”
“Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.”
“As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.”
“A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.”
“A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.”
“One who is too insistent on his own views finds few to agree with him.”
“A bad man is a good man's job.”
“Love is of all the passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.”
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready… The teacher will disappear.”
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
“Take care with the end as you do with the beginning.”
“The further one goes, the less one knows.”
“When goodness is lost there is morality.”
“To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go.”
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”
“Stop thinking, and end your problems.”
“If you are depressed you are living in the past.”