Quotes by Lao Tzu

to know people is wisdom,
but to know yourself is enlightenment.
to master people takes force,
but to master yourself takes strength.
to know contentment is wealth,
and to live with strength resolve.
to never leave whatever you are is to abide,
and to die without getting lost-
that is to live on and on.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.

He who stands on tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.
He who makes a show is not enlightened.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who boasts achieves nothing.
He who brags will not endure.

According to followers of the Tao, "These are extra food and unnecessary luggage."

They do not bring happiness, therefore followers of the Tao avoid them.

Those who know don't talk.
Those who talk don't know.

The living are soft and yielding;
the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.

Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciple of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.

The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome.

Those who justify themselves do not convince.

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

To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go.