Laozi: Trending quotes (page 3)

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“The Tao is called the Great Mother:
empty yet inexhaustible,
it gives birth to infinite worlds.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 6, as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell (1992)

World , Birth

“To attain knowledge, add things every day.
To attain wisdom, remove things every day.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 48

Wisdom , Knowledge

“A good traveler has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
and keeps his mind open to what is. Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn't reject anyone.
He is ready to use all situations
and doesn't waste anything.
This is called embodying the light.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Variants:
A good traveller has no fixed plan and is not intent on arriving.
As quoted in In Search of King Solomon's Mines‎ (2003) by Tahir Shah, p. 217
A true traveller has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving.
Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 27, as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell (1992)

People , Travel , Light

“Therefore the Sage embraces the One,
And becomes the model of the world.
He does not reveal himself,
And is therefore luminous.
He does not justify himself,
And is therefore far-famed.
He does not boast himself,
And therefore people give him credit.
He does not pride himself,
And is therefore the ruler among men.
It is because he does not contend
That no one in the world can contend against him.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 22, as translated by Lin Yutang (1948)

Men , People , World

“A way can be a guide but not a fixed path
names can be given but not permanent labels
Nonbeing is called the beginning of heaven and earth
being is called the mother of all things
Always passionless thereby observe the subtle
ever intent thereby observe the apparent
These two come from the same source but differ in name
both are considered mysteries
The mystery of mysteries is the gateway of marvels”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 1, as translated by Thomas Cleary (2004)

Way

“A violent wind does not outlast the morning; a squall of rain does not outlast the day. Such is the course of Nature. And if Nature herself cannot sustain her efforts long, how much less can man!”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Chapter 3 as translated by Lionel Giles

Nature , Effort

“The universe is deathless; Is deathless because, having no finite self, it stays infinite. A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further ahead of himself, By not confining himself to himself sustains himself outside himself: By never being an end in himself he endlessly becomes himself.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 7

Universe

“Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Variant translation by Lin Yutang: "He who knows others is learned; he who knows himself is wise".
Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 33, as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell (1992)

Success , Wisdom , Intelligence

“What I hear, I forget. What I say, I remember. What I do, I understand.”

Laozi

This quotation has also been misattributed to Confucius.
Tell me and I [will] forget. Show me and I [will] remember. Involve me and I [will] understand.
不聞不若聞之，聞之不若見之，見之不若知之，知之不若行之；學至於行之而止矣
From Xun Zi 荀子
Misattributed

Understanding , Forgetting

“The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Variant translation: The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people will be.
Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 57

Law

“When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Chapter 72, translated by Gia Fu Feng

Men , Sense

“Block the passages, shut the doors,
And till the end your strength shall not fail.
Open up the passages, increase your doings,
And till your last day no help shall come to you.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 52 as translated by Arthur Waley (1934)

Help

“There is a thing inherent and natural,
Which existed before heaven and earth.
Motionless and fathomless,
It stands alone and never changes;
It pervades everywhere and never becomes exhausted.
It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe.
I do not know its name. If I am forced to give it a name, I call it Tao, and I name it as supreme.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 25, as translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao (1904)

Nature , Universe , Change

“A leader is best when people barely know that he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worst when they despise him. Fail to honor people, They fail to honor you. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aims fulfilled, they will all say, "We did this ourselves."”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

A longer paraphrase of this quotation, with modern embellishments, is often attributed to Laozi: see "Misattributed" below.
Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 17

People

“This source is called darkness.
Darkness born from darkness.
The beginning of all understanding.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 1, as translated by J.H.McDonald (1996) http://www.wright-house.com/religions/taoism/tao-te-ching.html [Public domain translation]
Context: The tao that can be described
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be spoken
is not the eternal Name.
The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of creation.
Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real.
Yet mystery and reality
emerge from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness born from darkness.
The beginning of all understanding.

Understanding

“The tao that can be described
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be spoken
is not the eternal Name.
The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of creation.
Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 1, as translated by J.H.McDonald (1996) http://www.wright-house.com/religions/taoism/tao-te-ching.html [Public domain translation]
Context: The tao that can be described
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be spoken
is not the eternal Name.
The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of creation.
Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real.
Yet mystery and reality
emerge from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness born from darkness.
The beginning of all understanding.

“Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 1, Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English (1972)
Context: The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.

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

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 41
Context: Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, take it and practice it earnestly.
Scholars of the middle class, when they hear of it, take it half earnestly.
Scholars of the lowest class, when they hear of it, laugh at it.
Without the laughter, there would be no Tao.

“The Tao is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
filled with infinite possibilities. It is hidden but always present.
I don't know who gave birth to it.
It is older than God.”

Laozi book Tao Te Ching

Source: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 4, as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell (1992)