Lao Tzu Quotes

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.

Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.

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.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.

Because of a great love, one is courageous.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.

A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.

The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms.

In the end,
The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on
and gained by those who let go.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

There is
a time to live
and a time to die
but never to reject the moment.

When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Watch your step.

Klar sieht, wer von ferne sieht, nebelhaft, wer Anteil nimmt.

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.