Taoism Quotes · Page 16

People are difficult to rule, because of their knowledge.

— Laozi

That which offers no resistance, overcomes the hardest substances.

— Laozi

Moderation means prevention. Prevention means achieving much virtue.

— Laozi

Other people are occupied, I alone am unwilling, like the outcast.

— Laozi

Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.

— Laozi

Valuing unusual conduct is not as good as being careful about ordinary actions.

— Zicheng Hong

If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?

— Laozi

Those who take long steps cannot keep the pace.

— Laozi

If I have just an ounce of sense, I follow the great Way, and fear only to stray from it.

— Laozi

Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.

— Laozi

Change can only exist in time. Without time there is no change. Change can only exist with a background of that which…

— Frederick Lenz

According to the ancient Chinese proverb, A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

— John F. Kennedy

People are hard to govern. The rulers interfere with too much. That is why people are hard to govern.

— Laozi

“He who defines himself can't know who he really is. He who has power over others can't empower himself.”

— Lao Tzu

Ancient masters of excellence had a subtle essence, and a depth too profound to comprehend.

— Laozi

The one who does not honor the teacher and the one who does not honor the task, although ever so knowledgeable, they…

— Laozi

Heaven and Earth last for ever. Why do Heaven and Earth last for ever? They are unborn, so ever living. The sage…

— Laozi

The eyes and ears, seeing and hearing, are external plunderers; emotions, desires, and opinions are internal plunderers. But if the inner mind…

— Zicheng Hong

All of Chinese thinking - Confucianism, Taoism, as well as Buddhism - contains the idea that in the course of life, man…

— Richard Wilhelm

A grub in filth is dirty, but it changes into a cicada and sips dew in the autumn breeze. Rotting plants have…

— Zicheng Hong

“So, he who displays himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does…

— Lao Tzu

Cut brambles long enough, Sprout after sprout, And the lotus will bloom Of its own accord: Already waiting in the clearing, The…

— Sun Bu'er

“Taoists do not look upon meditation as 'practice,' except in the sense that a doctor 'practices' medicine. They have no design to…

— Alan W. Watts

The Sage embraces similarity of understanding and pays no regard to similarity of form. The world in general is attracted by similarity…

— Lie Yukou

Can you gather your vital breath and yet be tender like a newborn baby?

— Laozi

There was something that finished chaos, born before Heaven and Earth.

— Laozi

The sage knows without traveling, perceives without looking, completes without acting.

— Laozi

The most difficult in the world must be easy in its beginning.

— Laozi

All things of the world are born of being; being is born of nonbeing.

— Laozi

Because he (the Sage) opposes no one, no one in the world can oppose him.

— Laozi

“Life is serious...but you cannot take it seriously.”

— Peter Butterworth

People are born soft and weak. They die hard and stiff.

— Laozi

Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river.

— Laozi

People starve. The rulers consume too much with their taxes. That is why people starve.

— Laozi

A good mooring needs no knot, still no one can untie it.

— Laozi

The most complete seems lacking. Yet in use it is not exhausted.

— Laozi

Filling all the way to the brim is not as good as halting in time.

— Laozi

The one who is filled by virtue is like a newborn baby.

— Laozi

Keeping plenty of gold and jade in the palace makes no one able to defend it.

— Laozi

No disaster is worse than being discontented.

— Laozi