A skillful commander is not overbearing. A skillful fighter does not become angry. A skillful conqueror does not compete with people. One who is skillful in using men puts himself below them. This is called the strength to use men. This is called matching Heaven, The highest principle of old.
There is no illusion greater than fear.
Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.
Act without striving. Work without interfering. Find the flavour in what is flavourless.
Few things under heaven bring more benefit than the lessons learned from silence and the actions taken without striving.
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.
Is not the action of nature like the stretching of a bow? The high, it pulls down; the low, it lifts up; It takes from what is in excess In order to make good of what is deficient. Who can take what they have in excess and offer it to others?
The Great Tao flows everywhere, to the left and to the right, all things depend on it to exist, and it does not abandon them. To its accomplishments it lays no claims. It loves and nourished all things, but does not lord it over them.
The more laws that are written, the more criminals are produced.
A tree that can fill the span of a man’s arms grows from a downy tip; A terrace nine stories high rises from level earth; A journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one’s feet.
Why is the tao so valuable? Because it is everywhere, and everyone can use it. This is why those who seek will find, And those who reform will be forgiven; Why the good will be rewarded, And the thief who is cunning will escape.
Without the tao, Kindness and compassion are replaced by law and justice; Faith and trust are supplanted by ritual and ceremony.
We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.
All men desire to free themselves solely from death; they do not know how to free themselves from life.
If you scramble about in search of inner peace, you will lose your inner peace.
Heaven and Earth last for ever. Why do Heaven and Earth last for ever? They are unborn, so ever living. The sage stays behind, thus he is ahead. He is detached, thus at one with all. Through selfless action, he attains fulfillment.
Do you think you can make the world a better place? I do not think you can. It is already perfect.
When you are one with loss, the loss is experienced willingly.
The truest sayings are paradoxical.
Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.