Quotes from Laozi

Good men are bad men's instructors, And bad men are good men's materials.

What man has more than enough and gives it to the world? Only the man of Tao.

The scholar gains every day; the man of Tao loses every day.

A brave and passionate man will kill or be killed. A brave and calm man will always preserve life. Of these two which is good and which is harmful?

The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.

A man is born gentle and weak. At death he is hard and stiff.

The truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface.

All things in the world come from being. And being comes from non-being.

The Eternal generates the One. The One generates the Two. The Two generates the Three. The Three generates all things.

There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontent. And there is no greater disaster than greed.

Strong winds do not last all morning, hard rains do not last all day.

The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of all things.

The world's beginning is its mother. To have found the mother is also to know the children. Although you know the children, cling to the mother. Until your last day you will not be harmed.

The one who rules like the mother lasts long.

When you let go of what you are, you become what you might be.

Kindness in giving creates love.

[The Master] doesn't glitter like a jewel... [but is] as rugged and common as a stone.

He who overcomes others has force; he who overcomes himself is strong.

That which is achieved the most, still has the whole of its future yet to be achieved.

Be empty. Be still. Just watch everything come and go. This is the way of Nature.

He who knows how to be aggressive, and yet remains patient, becomes a receptacle for all of Nature's lessons.

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

The best way to manage anything is by making use of its own nature.

No thought, no action, no movement, total stillness: only thus can one manifest the true nature and law of things from within and unconsciously, and at last become one with heaven and earth.