--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only by working within the laws that…" description: "\"Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of water will happiness be achieved.\" — Laozi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg" --- # Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of… ![“Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of water will happiness be achieved.” quote by Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg) > “Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of water will happiness be achieved.” [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Harmony with natural laws, like water’s flow, leads to true happiness. **In simple terms:** Follow natural order for happiness. Key Takeaway Live in alignment with nature’s flow. Themes philosophy nature harmony Mood calm reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gardening - urban planning - stress management Key Concepts taoism fluidity Questions to Reflect On - How can you adapt to life’s currents? - What habits align you with natural rhythms? A Different Perspective Rigid control can cause resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Flow Of Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow-of-water/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [“Make your decisions like a rock & live your life like a flow of water”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlin-sailesh-kapadia/make-your-decisions-like-a-rock-live-your-life-like-a-flow-of-water/) [Arlin Sailesh Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlin-sailesh-kapadia/) > [“So often it happens that this one or that stands condemned by the social laws that govern family relations; and yet there are peculiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/so-often-it-happens-that-this-one-or-that-stands-condemned-by-the/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [When you really want something, and you couple that with an understanding of your nature, of your spiritual being, and the laws that govern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/when-you-really-want-something-and-you-couple-that-with-an/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [If the minority, and a small one too, is suffered to dictate to the majority, after measures have undergone the most solemn discussions by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/if-the-minority-and-a-small-one-too-is-suffered-to-dictate-to-the/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Do not become archivists of facts. Try to penetrate to the secret of their occurrence, persistently search for the laws which govern them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-pavlov/do-not-become-archivists-of-facts-try-to-penetrate-to-the-secret-of/) [Ivan Pavlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-pavlov/) > [“President Spencer W. Kimball declared, "Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most complex spiritual depths without the necessary ... work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-dew/president-spencer-w-kimball-declared-why-oh-why-do-people-think-they/) [Sheri Dew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-dew/) > [“Though shalt have a code of your own laws that govern you according to how you yourself perceive the world and though shalt be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/though-shalt-have-a-code-of-your-own-laws-that-govern-you-according/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [To talk of luck and chance only shows how little we really know of the laws which govern cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hosea-ballou/to-talk-of-luck-and-chance-only-shows-how-little-we-really-know-of/) [Hosea Ballou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hosea-ballou/) > [Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-clason/money-is-plentiful-for-those-who-understand-the-simple-laws-which/) [George S. 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Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-wharton/) > [As an engineer, I understood that the natural world operated according to fixed laws. Through my studies, I came to realize that there were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-koch/as-an-engineer-i-understood-that-the-natural-world-operated-according/) [Charles Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-koch/) ## More by Laozi > [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [In lightness the root is lost. In haste the ruler is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-lightness-the-root-is-lost-in-haste-the-ruler-is-lost/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [If the sage wants to stand above people, he must speak to them from below. If he wants to lead people, he must follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-the-sage-wants-to-stand-above-people-he-must-speak-to-them-from/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Goodie-goodies are the thieves of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/goodie-goodies-are-the-thieves-of-virtue/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [He that humbles himself shall be preserved entire. He that bends shall be made straight. He that is empty shall be filled. He that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/he-that-humbles-himself-shall-be-preserved-entire-he-that-bends-shall/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The Way of the Sage is to act but not to compete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-way-of-the-sage-is-to-act-but-not-to-compete/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Do nondoing, strive for nonstriving, savor the flavorless, regard the small as important, make much of little, repay enmity with virtue; plan for difficulty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/do-nondoing-strive-for-nonstriving-savor-the-flavorless-regard-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Without looking through the window, you can see Heaven's Way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/without-looking-through-the-window-you-can-see-heaven-s-way/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/can-you-dissolve-your-ego-can-you-abandon-the-idea-of-self-and-other/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [What's the difference between beautiful and ugly?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-s-the-difference-between-beautiful-and-ugly/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-stillness-the-muddied-water-returns-to-clarity/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [He (the sage) is good to those who are good. He is also good to those who are not good. That is the virtue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/he-the-sage-is-good-to-those-who-are-good-he-is-also-good-to-those/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [There is a thing inherent and natural which existed before heaven and earth. Motionless and fathomless, It stands alone and never changes; It pervades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/there-is-a-thing-inherent-and-natural-which-existed-before-heaven-and/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [What is a good man but a bad man's teacher? What is a bad man but a good man's job? If you do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-is-a-good-man-but-a-bad-man-s-teacher-what-is-a-bad-man-but-a/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) [Explore all 1,140 Laozi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) ## More Flow quotes > [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Behind every word flows energy. If you use your words to gossip or babble about what you are going to do before you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/behind-every-word-flows-energy-if-you-use-your-words-to-gossip-or/) [Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [I take the seashell from my jeans pocket and rub my fingers across its silken, indented surface, shallow as my own open hand. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kenison/i-take-the-seashell-from-my-jeans-pocket-and-rub-my-fingers-across/) [Katrina Kenison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kenison/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“When we strike a balance between the challenge of an activity and our skill at performing it, when the rhythm of the work itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/when-we-strike-a-balance-between-the-challenge-of-an-activity-and-our/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [I have this belief about things happening organically. I believe life has this organic flow in a way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naoko-mori/i-have-this-belief-about-things-happening-organically-i-believe-life/) Naoko Mori > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/david-rockefeller-is-the-most-conspicuous-representative-today-of-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [The tides which flow and lapse in the Bristol Channel are often distained by the freshets of many streams falling through wooded coombes below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-tides-which-flow-and-lapse-in-the-bristol-channel-are-often/) [Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/) > [“Life is a flow which we can either resist or go with it gracefully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonmoy-acharjee/life-is-a-flow-which-we-can-either-resist-or-go-with-it-gracefully/) Tonmoy Acharjee > [What a strange power the perception of beauty is! It seems to ebb and flow like some secret tide, independent alike of health and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/what-a-strange-power-the-perception-of-beauty-is-it-seems-to-ebb-and/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) [Browse all 3,282 Flow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of water will happiness be achieved.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laozi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-govern-the-flow-of-water-will/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flow" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-govern-the-flow-of-water-will/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09a/laozi-147_flow_only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-gov_2141385.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only by working within the laws that govern the flow of water will happiness be achieved.” — Laozi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Laozi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Only by working within the laws...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-govern-the-flow-of-water-will/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/only-by-working-within-the-laws-that-govern-the-flow-of-water-will/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```