As restrictions and prohibitions are multiplied the people grow poorer and poorer. When they are subjected to overmuch government, the land is thrown into confusion.
To know one’s ignorance is the best part of knowledge.
The wise man knows without traveling.
Give up your relentless moralizing, the continual pinpricks which pierce the skin of your fellows. The distinction between good and evil is the sickness of the mind. Give up your morals, and the people will regain a love of their fellows.
The skillful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels...
A violent wind does not last for a whole morning...
The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout...
To conquer others is to have power, to conquer yourself is to know the way.
It is hidden but always present.
Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond is and is not.
Yet mystery and reality emerge from the same source.
If you close your mind in judgements and traffic with desires, your heart will be troubled. If you keep your mind from judging and aren’t led by the senses, your heart will find peace.
Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.
In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.
Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
To attain to the human form must always be a source of joy. And then to undergo continuous transitions, with only the infinite to look forward to: what incomparable bliss is that!
When you are sick of your sickness you will cease to be sick.
Nature is not anthropomorphic.
Act non-action; undertake no undertaking; taste the tasteless.
The seed of mystery lies in muddy water. How can I perceive this mystery? Water becomes clear through stillness. How can I become still? By flowing with the stream.