Lao Tzu Philosophy Quotes

Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.

The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.

Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.

If you understand others you are smart. If you understand yourself you are illuminated. If you overcome others you are powerful. If you overcome yourself you have strength. If you know how to be satisfied you are rich. If you can act with vigor, you have a will. If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting. If you die without loss, you are eternal.

As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.

Do you have the patience to wait Till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving Till the right action arises by itself?

We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use.

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.

He who is in harmony with the Tao is like a newborn child. Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak, but its grip is powerful. It doesn't know about the union of male and female, yet its penis can stand erect, so intense is its vital power. It can scream its head off all day, yet it never becomes hoarse, so complete is its harmony. 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.

As to the roaming of sages, They move in utter emptiness, Let their minds meander in the great nothingness; They run beyond convention And go through where there is no gateway. They listen to the soundless And look at the formless, They are not constrained by society And not bound to its customs. - Lao-tzu

Existence is beyond the power of words To define: Terms may be used But are none of them absolute. In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words, Words came out of the womb of matter; And whether a man dispassionately Sees to the core of life Or passionately Sees the surface, The core and the surface Are essentially the same, Words making them seem different Only to express appearance. If name be needed, wonder names them both: From wonder into wonder Existence opens.

When I let go of who I am, I become who I might be.

Lao Tzu wrote: “Know the personal, yet keep to the impersonal: Accept the world as it is. Then the Tao will be luminous inside you, and you will return to the Uncarved Block.” There is so much philosophy packed into this verse that it summarizes central teachings about happiness from three great ancient traditions: those not only from Taoism, but also from Buddhism and Stoicism

He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened.

To live till you die Is to live long enough

Jade is praised as precious, but its strength is being stone.

One gains by losing and loses by gaining.

The Master, by residing in the Tao, sets an example for all beings. Because he doesn't display himself, people can see his light. Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words. Because he doesn't know who he is, people recognize themselves in him. Because he has no goal in mind, everything he does succeeds.

When the world's on the Way, they use horses to haul manure. When the world gets off the Way, they breed warhorses on the common. The greatest evil: wanting more. The worst luck: discontent. Greed's the curse of life. To know enough's enough is enough to know.

Something can be beautiful, if something else is ugly. Someone can be good, if someone else is bad.

Tell me and I'll listen, Show me and I'll watch Let me experience and I'll learn

Those who speak don't know and those who know don't speak.

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.

The great Sage follows his own nature and not that of society, following the fruit not the flower, he stays with the truth while rejecting the false

Not to practice stillness is to lose one’s control

So, he who displays himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (German: Also sprach Zarathustra, sometimes translated Thus Spake Zarathustra), subtitled A Book for All and None (Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen), is a written work by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885. Much of the work deals with ideas such as the "eternal recurrence of the same", the parable on the "death of God", and the "prophecy" of the Overman, which were first introduced in The Gay Science. Described by Nietzsche himself as "the deepest ever written", the book is a dense and esoteric treatise on philosophy and morality, featuring as protagonist a fictionalized Zarathustra. A central irony of the text is that the style of the Bible is used by Nietzsche to present ideas of his which fundamentally oppose Judaeo-Christian morality and tradition.

Practice emptiness to the extreme. Keep stillness whole. Myriad things act in concert. I therefore watch their return. All things flourish, and each returns to its root. Return to the root is called Quietude. Quietude is called Way of Life. Way of Life is called Constant. Acting without knowing this constant can be harmful. Understanding this Constant is called receptivity, which is impartial. Impartiality is Kingship. Kingship is Heaven. Heaven is the Tao. Though you lose the body, you do not die.

The Master, by residing in the Tao, sets an example for all beings. Because he doesn't display himself, people can see his light. Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words. Because he doesn't know who he is, people recognize themselves in him. Because he has no goal in mind, everything he does succeeds.

When harmony and balance cease to exist and man has lost his way   The virtue of caring for one another and love will arise from the chaos

That which would be taken must first be given

With more laws and regulations the people become poorer.

Even after the death of the body, you will remain whole in the Tao

The Sage satisfies his inner desires with what cannot be seen, not with the external temptations of the world

Can you allow your nature to be like that of a new born baby and be in harmony?

Heaven and Earth act without intention or benevolence and is not moved or swayed by offerings of straw dogs

The ancients prized this way in the days of old   It wasn’t because the Tao is the source of all good or the cure for evil   But because it is the most noble thing to do thus making it the greatest treasure in the universe

The wise leader considers the left to be honorable   While mongers of war prefer the right. Weapons of war are not for the wise   The wise only use these weapons when it cannot be avoided   The wise practice restraint and caution in the use of them

According to tradition, the originator of Taoism, Lao-tzu, was an older contemporary of Kung Fu-tzu, or Confucius, who died in 479 B.C.1 Lao-tzu is said to have been the author of the Tao Te Ching, a short book of aphorisms, setting forth the principles of the Tao and its power or virtue (Te e). But traditional Chinese philosophy ascribes both Taoism and Confucianism to a still earlier source, to a work which lies at the very foundation of Chinese thought and culture, dating anywhere from 3000 to 1200 B.C. This is the I Ching, or Book of Changes.

Can you tell us about Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras? Sunday Times Interview "Both Hesse and Tolstoy were my first spiritual gurus. Through their deep insights and soulful messages, for the first time I experienced the world of spiritual growth and deep contemplation. Many artists have inspired my writings, the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Lao Tzu and Giordano Bruno. Pythagoras lived on the crossroads of civilisations, as I see us, and he has given us his fascinating research into music and numbers. With my deep respect towards ancient worlds, Pythagoras with his ancient Egyptian mystical knowledge had to be my protagonist.

If we could renounce and do away with wisdom, knowledge, religion and cleverness then it would be a hundred times better for everyone   Do away with morals and justice and people will begin to do the right things   Give up the desire for wealth, and thieves and robbers will disappear   These three forms of governing are insufficient

Lao-tzu advised, “As soon as you have a thought, laugh at it,” because reality is not what we think. We perceive the world through a window colored by beliefs, interpretations, and associations. We see things not as they are but as we are. The same brain that enables us to contemplate philosophy, solve math equations, and create poetry also generates a stream of static known as discursive thoughts, which seem to arise at random, bubbling up into our awareness. Such mental noise is a natural phenomenon, no more of a problem than the dreams that appear in the sleep state. Therefore, our schooling aims not to struggle with random thoughts but to transcend them in the present moment, where no thoughts exist, only awareness. Our mind’s liberation awaits not in some imagined future but here and now.

The five colors blind the eyes   The five sounds deafen the ears   The five flavors deaden the taste   Excessive desires will madden the mind   Excessive possessions preoccupy the mind with fear   The more you desire, the more you’ll be discontented from what you have   The Sage fills his belly, not his eyes   The Sage satisfies his inner desires with what cannot be seen, not with the external temptations of the world

What the Daodejing has to offer, on the other hand, is much simpler. It encourages the cultivation of a disposition that is captured in what we have chosen to call its wu-forms. The wu-forms free up the energy required to sustain the abstract cognitive and moral sensibilities of technical philosophy, allowing this energy, now unmediated by concepts, theories, and contrived moral precepts, to be expressed as those concrete feelings that inspire the ordinary business of the day. It is through these concrete feelings that one is able to know the world and to optimize the human experience.

When a cat falls out of a tree, it lets go of itself. The cat becomes completely relaxed, and lands lightly on the ground. But if a cat were about to fall out of a tree and suddenly make up its mind that it didn’t want to fall, it would become tense and rigid, and would be just a bag of broken bones upon landing. [I]t is the philosophy of the Tao that…the moment we were born we were kicked off a precipice and we are falling, and there is nothing that can stop it. So instead of living in a state of chronic tension, and clinging to all sorts of things that are actually falling with us because the whole world is impermanent, be like a cat. —Alan Watts, What Is Tao? Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself? —Lao Tzu

Above, in discussing the perceptive notions of Jesus, remarkable concepts of Plato or the highly introspective lessons of Gautama and Lao Tzu, it took considerable discussion to explore the meaning and relate it to How Life Works. Islam presents no such deep pool of thought to pierce.

But Lao Tzu’s teaching suffers from the major problem endemic to such visionaries. In the intervening two and a half millennia, his words have been misinterpreted and distorted by generations of adherents until his message is riddled with meaningless ritual and dogma. Taoism contracted the conceptual plague: it became a religion.

experimenter. For instance, when it came to developing his art of jeet kune do, he delved not just into standard martial arts for inspiration and information; he looked at Western boxing, fencing, biomechanics, and philosophy. He admired the simplicity of boxing, incorporating its ideas into his footwork and his upper-body tools (jab, cross, hook, bob, weave, etc.). And from fencing, he began by looking at the footwork, range, and timing of the stop hit and the riposte, both techniques that meet attacks and defenses with preemptive moves. From biomechanics, he studied movement as a whole, seeking to understand the physical laws of motion while understanding biological efficiencies and strengths. And within philosophy, he read widely from both Eastern and Western writers, such as Lao Tzu, Alan Watts, and Krishnamurti, while also picking up popular self-help books of the day. He was open to all inspiration and all possibilities—his only limit being the limit of his own imagination and understanding.

while understanding biological efficiencies and strengths. And within philosophy, he read widely from both Eastern and Western writers, such as Lao Tzu, Alan Watts, and Krishnamurti, while also picking up popular self-help books of the day. He was open to all inspiration and all possibilities—his only limit being the limit of his own imagination and understanding.

Be teachable. You’re not always right." (@ML_Philosophy) "The tombstone of capitalism will later say: too much was not enough." (Volker Pispers) "Smiling mobilizes 15 muscles, but sulking requires 40. Rest: smile!" (Christophe André) "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift that"s why they call it the present." - (@TheWordicle) "When you realize how precious and fragile life is, it changes your whole perspective." (Ryan O’Donnell) "A kind word can warm up to three months of winter" - Japanese proverb "It’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction." (@wise_chimp) "The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth." - Lao Tzu "... We get old too soon, and wise too late." (@_AhmadHijazi) "Nothing in the world is worth turning away from what we love" - Albert Camus "I am allowed to say NO to others and YES to myself." (@Lenka49044040) "You can only live forwards, understand life only backwards." (Søren Kierkegaard) "Write your life - Or they'll wait till you're dead to write the lie" ... (@spectraspeaks)

Confucius and Lao-Tse were living in China, all the schools of Chinese philosophy came into being, including those of Mo Ti, Chuang Tse, Lieh Tzu and a host of others; India produced the Upanishads and Buddha and, like China, ran the whole gamut of philosophical possibilities down to materialism, scepticism and nihilism; in Iran, Zarathustra taught a challenging view of the world as a struggle between good and evil; in Palestine the prophets made their appearance from Elijah by way of Isaiah and Jeremiah to Deutero-Isaiah; Greece witnessed the appearance of Homer, of the philosophers—Parmenides, Heraclitus and Plato,—of the tragedians, of Thucydides and Archimedes. Everything implied by these names developed during these few centuries almost simultaneously in China, India and the West.

There was something that finished chaos, Born before Heaven and Earth. So silent and still! So pure and deep! It stands alone and immutable, Ever-present and inexhaustible. It can be called the mother of the whole world. I do not know its name. I call it the Way. For the lack of better words I call it great.

Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know

Lao Tzu is most well known for being the founder of Taoism. Taoism is centered upon two major ideas: Wu wei and yin-yang. Wu wei is a concept of non-action, where a person will find peace through quiet inaction, rather than a search to change circumstances. Yin-yang, which has become a pop culture symbol in many western countries is a philosophy of equal opposites. Although often represented as a light/dark dichotomy, the philosophy actually embraces the idea that for any given thing, its opposite is central to its makeup.