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
The Tao principle is what happens of itself. — Lao Tzu
Tao loves and nourishes all things, but does not dominate it over them. — 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
Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone. — Lao Tzu
The Tao is unpredictable to those that live according to plans. Only those who have no agenda are in harmony with the Tao. — Lao Tzu
Understand this if nothing else: spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao are not randomly bestowed gifts, but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution. — Lao Tzu
It is too facile to say that the way to follow Tao is to simply go along with the flow of life. Sometimes, like the carp, we must know when to go it alone. — Ming-Dao Deng
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
Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space: All are transient expressions of the Tao. — Lao Tzu
The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do. — 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
From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness. — Benjamin Hoff
If I had to label myself now, I'd call myself a Taoist-Christian-agnostic quantum mechanic. — Moby
It is what the Taoists say: The way to do is to be. — Drunvalo Melchizedek
I had, by thirteen, developed a sort of Taoist hubris about my ability to control via non-control. — David Foster Wallace
Tao 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
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
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 Te 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
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
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
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
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
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. — Lao Tzu
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
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
Free from desire, you realize the mystery. — Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching Leadership Quotes
Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself. — 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
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
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
Satiety depends not at all on how much we eat, but on how we eat. It's the same with happiness, the very same...happiness doesn't depend on how many external blessings we have snatched from life. It depends only on our attitude toward them. There's a saying about it in the Taoist ethic: 'Whoever is capable of contentment will always be satisfied. — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
To the Taoist mentality, the aimless, empty life does not suggest anything depressing. On the contrary, it suggests the freedom of clouds and mountain streams, wandering nowhere, of flowers in impenetrable canyons, beautiful for no one to see, and of the ocean surf forever washing the sand, to no end. — Alan Watts
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
Taoist chanting, Confucian chanting, Christian chanting, Buddhist chanting don't matter. Chanting Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola … can be just as good if you keep a clear mind. But if you don't keep a clear mind, and are only following your thinking as you mouth the words, even the Buddha cannot help you. — Seungsahn
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
Zen is the enemy of analysis, the friend of intuition. The Zen artist understands the ends of his art intuitively, and the last thing he would do is create categories; the avowed purpose of Zen is to eliminate categories! The true Zen-man holds to the old Taoist proverb,
Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know. — Tom Hoover
Karma is the record of services. Karma is the term used in Buddhist teaching. Taoists use the term te. Christians us the term "deed." Many other spiritual beings use the term "virtue." Karma, te, deed, and virtue are the same thing but in different words. To understand karma is to understand all of these words. — Zhi Gang Sha
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
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
Initially I was very drawn to the Tao Te Ching, the Taoist philosophy. It was helping me deal with the balance of these external and internal issues with my chess life. Tai chi is the martial embodiment of Taoist philosophy. Initially, I had no intention of competing in the martial arts; it was just the meditation. — Joshua Waitzkin
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
Compared with that of Taoists and Far Eastern Buddhists, the Christian attitude toward Nature has been curiously insensitive and often downright domineering and violent. Taking their cue from an unfortunate remark in Genesis, Catholic moralists have regarded animals as mere things which men do right to regard for their own ends. . . . — Aldous Huxley
But the transformation of consciousness undertaken in Taoism and Zen is more like the correction of faulty perception or the curing of a disease. It is not an acquisitive process of learning more and more facts or greater and greater skills, but rather an unlearning of wrong habits and opinions. As Lao-tzu said, "The scholar gains every day, but the Taoist loses every day. — Alan Watts
In Taoist philosophy, 'yin' is the feminine principle, representing the forces of earth, while 'yang' is the masculine principle, representing spirit. — Marianne Williamson
And of course, Indonesian people are above all scared of being 'different'. Being different here is punished brutally. Different people get mocked, ostracized, raped, tortured, and murdered. They are banned. To be a Communist is banned. To be gay is banned. To be an atheist is banned. To be a Taoist is banned. Being one of a thousand things is banned. — Andre Vltchek
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
In shamanism and certain yogas, Taoist yoga, claim very clearly that the purpose is to familiarize yourself with this after-death body, in life, and then the act of dying will not create confusion in the psyche. You will recognize what is happening. You will know what to do. And you will make the clean break. — Terence McKenna
Everyone is a Taoist at heart. Everyone would like to follow nature, but we don't have enough tools yet to put the philosophy into practice... as soon as someone gets sick, they fight the illness, rather than trying to find out the meaning or purpose behind it. — Arnold Mindell
Buddhists and Taoists of the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan share the same roots and instructions and have always maintained sound exchanges. — Jia Qinglin
My comic sense, although deliberately Americanized, is, in its intent, much closer related to the crazy wisdom of Zen monks and the goofy genius of Taoist masters than it is to, say, the satirical gibes on Saturday Night Live. It has both a literary and a metaphysical function. — Tom Robbins
I have often discussed the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path in talks I have given about meditation. But, since I also teach Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist mediation, I have a very eclectic approach to the subject. — Frederick Lenz
I am a reformed Taoist, part-time Buddhist, Hindu, animist, pagan, Jewish mystic, and Christian. I always got along great with priests and rabbis and mullahs and gurus, even though I spend most of my life constructively criticizing them. — Steven Van Zandt
Alan Paul plunges into Chinese life and takes us along for the ride, through vegetable markets, used-car lots, Taoist temples, divey bars, and a beachside music festival before thousands of cheering fans. He conveys the thrills and challenges of living abroad, the confusions and regrets, and most of all the opportunity to become the person we always hoped to be. — Peter Hessler
Think of being curled up and floating in a darkness. Even if you could think, even if you had an imagination, would you ever imagine its opposite, this miraculous world the Asian Taoists call the "Ten Thousand Things"? And if the darkness just got darker? And then you were dead? What would you care? How would you eve know the difference? — Denis Johnson
In Conclusion
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