Lao Tzu

“Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.”

“Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long.”

“he who overcomes himself is mighty.”

“From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like.”

“To bear and not to own; to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay.”

“It is through their not being full of themselves that they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.”

“To consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men; and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom.”

“He who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it.”

“The kingdom is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing.”

“If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed.”

“the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault with or blamed;”

“The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new.”

“If we could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our (scheming for) gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.”

“If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become filial and kindly.”

“In the next they feared them; in the next they despised them.”

“In the next age they loved them and praised them.”

“In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were (their rulers).”

“The knowledge of that unchanging rule produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things).”

“With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.”

“Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for profitable adaptation, and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.”

“Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.”

“The highest excellence is like (that of) water.”

“It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full.”

“Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;”

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

“against warWeapons are unhappy tools,not chosen by thoughtful people,to be used only when there is no choice,and with a calm, still mind,without enjoyment.To enjoy using weaponsis to enjoy killing people,and to enjoy killing peopleis to lose your share in the common good. ...”

“When the great Tao is forgotten,goodness and piety appear.When the body's intelligence declines,cleverness and knowledge step forth.When there is no peace in the family,filial piety begins.When the country falls into chaos,patriotism is born.”

“Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves;”

“There are few in the world who attain to the teaching without words, and the advantage arising from non-action.”

“Always without desire we must be found,”

“The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place;”

“Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones.”

“He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act (on it).”

“When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.”

“they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.”

“Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence.”

“Someone who is too insistent in his own views finds few to agree with him.”

“The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long.”

“Have done with learning,And you will have no more vexation.How great is the difference between "eh" and "o"?What is the distinction between "good" and "evil"?Must I fear what others fear?What abysmal nonsense this is!All men are joyous and beaming,As though feasting upon a sacrificial ox,As though mounting the Spring Terrace;I alone am placid and give no sign,Like a babe which has not yet smiled.I alone am forlorn as one who has no home to return to.All men have enough and to spare:I alone appear to possess nothing.What a fool I am!What a muddled mind I have!All men are bright, bright:I alone am dim, dim.All men are sharp, sharp:I alone am mum, mum!Bland like the ocean,Aimless like the wafting gale.All men settle down in their grooves:I alone am stubborn and remain outside.But wherein I am most different from others isIn knowing to take sustenance from my Mother!”

“Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes.”

“The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.”

“They shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property and wealth;—such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters.”

“The perception of what is small is (the secret of clear- sightedness; the guarding of what is soft and tender is (the secret of) strength.”

“Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat.”

“The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest; that which has no (substantial) existence enters where there is no crevice.”

“Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestly carry it into practice.”

“Those who possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure).”

“The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong.”

“Heaven and Earth (under its guidance) unite together and send down the sweet dew, which, without the directions of men, reaches equally everywhere as of its own accord.”

“Calm and repose are what he prizes; victory (by force of arms) is to him undesirable.”