Lao Zi Quotes

Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.

He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Zi

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know. —LAO ZI, The Way of Lao Zi

The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. —JAPANESE PROVERB Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know. —LAO ZI, The Way of Lao Zi

When filled with qi, the body is like a tree branch filled with sap; it can bend and flow with the breeze, but it does not snap or lose its connection with the root. On the other hand, a stiff, dead branch is easily broken. Thus the adage of Lao Zi, "Concentrate the qi and you will achieve the utmost suppleness... Suppleness is the essence of life.

Is not the Great Executor always there to kill? To do the killing for the Great Executor Is to chop wood for a master carpenter, And you would be very lucky indeed if you did not hurt your own hand!

Is het noodzakelijk Duits te kennen om Hegel te kunnen begrijpen? Is het noodzakelijk Grieks te kennen om zich een voorstelling te kunnen maken van wat Plato bedacht? Is het noodzakelijk Chinees te kennen om door te kunnen dringen tot de wereld van Lao Zi?

In short, an argumentation sketch may be able to inspire and lead us in our reflections. We can take one step further by acknowledging that there may be other ways - for example, the aphoristic and even mystical style exemplified in the Lao Zi and to some extent Nietzsche's writing - to express (the author's) and inspire (the readers') reflections than argumentation (argumentation sketch included). This style has its benefits, especially if what is to be expressed has some form of internal tension, or if what is to be said is ineffable in a way. This is the issue underlying the problem of writing in Plato's Phaedrus, the problem of speaking about the inspeakable Dao in the Lao Zi, the problem of how to express oneself without being trapped in one's words in the Zhuang Zi, and the problem of how to assert nothingness in Buddhism.