The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success. — Sun Tzu
Tao loves and nourishes all things, but does not dominate it over them. — Lao Tzu
When the ancient Masters said, "If you want to be given everything, give everything up," they weren't using empty phrases. Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself. — Lao Tzu
If the sage wants to stand above people, he must speak to them from below. If he wants to lead people, he must follow them from behind. — Lao Tzu
Those who follow the Tao are of clear mind. They do not load their mind with anxieties and are flexible in their adjustment to external conditions. — Zhuangzi
Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men. — Lao Tzu
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. — Witter Bynner
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. — Lao Tzu
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. — Lao Tzu
The Tao principle is what happens of itself. — Lao Tzu
(The Tao) is always present and always available. . . . If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. — Lao Tzu
The master does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe is forever out of control, and that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Tao. — Lao Tzu
Leadership means firmness, not harshness or bullying; understanding, not weakness; justice, not irresponsible freedom; humaneness, not intolerance; generosity, not selfishness; pride, not egotism. — Omar N. Bradley
The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do. — Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching Quotes
Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right. — Lao Tzu
Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong. — Lao Tzu
The more you know the less you talk. — A. R. Rahman
A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.
If you search everywhere, yet cannot find what you are seeking, it is because what you seek is already in your possession. — Lao Tzu
The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long. — Lao Tzu
If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve — Lao Tzu
Be a leader by example. Be confident and humble. Love the unloved.
Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know. — Lao Tzu
If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled. — Lao Tzu
In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. — Lao Tzu
Tao Ching Quotes
When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the people's benefit. Trust them; leave them alone. — Lao Tzu
I am good to people who are good. I am also good to people who are not good. Because Virtue is goodness. — Lao Tzu
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. — Lao Tzu
Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.
The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth. — Lao Tzu
In caring for others and serving heaven,
There is nothing like using restraint. — Lao Tzu
When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster. — Lao Tzu
Leadership is an action, not a position.
Yet mystery and imagination arise from the same source. This source is called darkness ... Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding. — Lao Tzu
Free from desire, you realize the mystery, caught in the desire, you see only the manifestations. — Lao Tzu
If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. — Lao Tzu
He who has achieved this state Is unconcerned with friends and enemies, With good and harm, with honor and disgrace. This therefore is the highest state of man. — Lao Tzu
Tao Wisdom Quotes
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. — Lao Tzu
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. — Mao Zedong
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment. — Lao Tzu
Leadership simply begins with the courage to be yourself. So everyone else can be, too.
At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want. — Lao Tzu
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you. — Lao Tzu
Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength. — Lao Tzu
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. — Lao Tzu
If you want to know me, look inside your heart. — Lao Tzu
"What's that?" the Unbeliever asked.
"Wisdom from the Western Taoist," I said.
"It sounds like something from Winnie-the-Pooh," he said.
"It is," I said.
"That's not about Taoism," he said.
"Oh, yes it is," I said. — Benjamin Hoff
Book Of Tao Quotes
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. — Lao Tzu
A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. — Lao Tzu
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. — Lao Tzu
The Master's power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed. He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old. — Lao Tzu
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. — Lao Tzu
Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? — Lao Tzu
When there is no desire, all things are at peace — Lao Tzu
When people see some things as good, other things become bad. — Lao Tzu
The more you know the less you understand. — Lao Tzu
Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself. — Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu Quotes
Sometimes I find myself thinking, rather wistfully, about Lao Tzu's famous dictum: 'Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.' All around me I see something very different, let us say - a number of angry dwarfs trying to grill a whale. — William Carlos Williams
No one asks you to throw Mozart out of the window. Keep Mozart. Cherish him. Keep Moses too, and Buddha and Lao Tzu and Christ. Keep them in your heart. But make room for the others, the coming ones, the ones who are already scratching on the window-panes. — Henry Miller
If you care too much about what other people think, you will always be their prisoner. Lao Tzu — Avan Jogia
I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. — Leo Tolstoy
The founders of the great world religions, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, Lao-Tzu, Mohammed, all seem to have striven for a worldwide brotherhood of man; but none of them could develop institutions which would include the enemy, the unbeliever. — Geoffrey Gorer
The mind always wants to choose. The mind lives through choice. If you don't choose the mind drops. This is the way of Lao Tzu. How to drop the mind? - don't choose! That's why he never prescribes any meditation, because then there is no need for any meditation. — Osho
[The Master] doesn't glitter like a jewel... [but is] as rugged and common as a stone. — Lao Tzu
Taoism is the way of water. The most frequent element or symbol refered to in Lao Tzu's wrtings is the symbol of water. — Frederick Lenz
Confucius is like the Torah, rules to follow. And Lao-Tzu is even more conservative, saying that if you do nothing you won't break any rules. You have to let tradition fall sometime, you have to take action, you have to eat bacon. — Christopher Moore
I was inspired to spend an entire year - my 65th year - reading, researching, and meditating on Lao-tzu's messages, practicing them and ultimately writing down these insights as I felt Lao-tzu wanted us to know them. — Wayne Dyer
Taoist Quotes
In ancient China, the Taoists taught that a constant inner smile, a smile to oneself, insured health, happiness and longevity. Why? Smiling to yourself is like basking in love: you become your own best friend. Living with an inner smile is to live in harmony with yourself. — Mantak Chia
Taoist philosophy is essentially monistic. Matter and energy, Yang and Yin, heaven and earth, are conceived of as essentially one or as two coexistent poles of one indivisible whole. — Bruce Lee
I just wanna build momentum again. Keeping yourself in work is one thing, keeping yourself in good work's another. But if it doesn't work out, so be it. As the Taoists say, Learn to accept that which you cannot change. — Ian Hart
Through working in harmony with life's circumstances, Taoist understanding changes what others may percieve as negative into something positive. — Benjamin Hoff
As any old Taoist walking out of the woods can tell you, simple-minded does not necessarily mean stupid. — Benjamin Hoff
From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness. — Benjamin Hoff
If you're looking for a place to rest Cold Mountain is good for a long stay The breeze blowing through the dark pines Sounds better the closer you come And under the trees a white haired man Mumbles over his Taoist texts Ten years now he hasn't gone home He's even forgotten the road he came by — Hanshan
In stark contrast with the views of the Greek philosophers and with those of the rest of western intellectuals to the present day, Chinese Taoist thought always defended individual liberty and laissez-faire while attacking the systematic and coercive use of violence typical of government. — Jesus Huerta de Soto
In Taoist philosophy, 'yin' is the feminine principle, representing the forces of earth, while 'yang' is the masculine principle, representing spirit. — Marianne Williamson
There is one God. The Jews and the Christians have no monopoly on God. I'm speaking about the same God the Hindus talk about, the same God the Muslims talk about, the same God that the Taoists and the Confucians talk about. — Marianne Williamson
True words aren't eloquent; eloquent words aren't true. Wise men don't need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren't wise. The Master has no possessions. The more he does for others, the happier he is. The more he gives to others, the wealthier he is. The Tao nourishes by not forcing. By not dominating, the Master leads. — Lao Tzu
Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself. — Lao Tzu
He who stands on tiptoe
doesn't stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn't go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can't know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can't empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures. — Lao Tzu
The world is ruled by letting things take their course. It cannot be ruled by interfering. — Lao Tzu
In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. — Lao Tzu
Try to change it and you will ruin it. Try to hold it and you will lose it. — Lao Tzu
He who stands on tiptoe does not stand firm. — Lao Tzu
The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of all things. — Lao Tzu
To understand the limitation of things, desire them. — Lao Tzu
Free from desire, you realize the mystery. — Lao Tzu
Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear? — Lao Tzu
Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding. — Lao Tzu
See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things — Lao Tzu
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there. — Lao Tzu
A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar. — Lao Tzu
A tree that is unbending, is easily broken. — Lao Tzu
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth. — Lao Tzu
...the more you talk of it, the less you understand. — Lao Tzu
Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. — Lao Tzu
Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself. — Lao Tzu
The more laws and restrictions there are,
The poorer people become.
The sharper men's weapons,
The more trouble in the land. — Lao Tzu
Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. — Lao Tzu
Observe how endings become beginnings. — Lao Tzu
If I have even just a little sense, I will walk on the main road and my only fear will be of straying from it. Keeping to the main road is easy, But people love to be sidetracked. — Lao Tzu
He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty. — Lao Tzu
What is a good man but a bad man's teacher? What is a bad man but a good man's job? If you do not remember this, You will get lost, No matter how intelligent you are. It is the great secret. — Lao Tzu
Great talents ripen late; the highest notes are hard to hear. — Lao Tzu
In Conclusion
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