Quotes by Lao-tzu

To be worn out is to be renewed.

To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.

To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.

When armies are mobilized and issues are joined,
The man who is sorry over the fact will win.

When the highest type of men hear Tao,
They diligently practice it.
When the average type of men hear Tao,
They half believe in it.
When the lowest type of men hear Tao,
They laugh heartily at it.
Without the laugh, there is no Tao.

When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty,
There arises the recognition of ugliness.
When they all know the good as good,
There arises the recognition of evil.

The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.
The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

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

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
Through this I know the advantage of taking no action.

To produce things and to rear them,
To produce, but not to take possession of them,
To act, but not to rely on one's own ability,
To lead them, but not to master them -
This is called profound and secret virtue.