He who talks more is sooner exhausted.
Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.
At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.
If the Great Way perishes there will morality and duty. When cleverness and knowledge arise great lies will flourish. When relatives fall out with one another there will be filial duty and love. When states are in confusion there will be faithful servants.
To see things in the seed, that is genius.
There was something undifferentiated and yet complete, which existed before Heaven and Earth. Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change. It operates everywhere and is free from danger. It may be considered the mother of the universe. I do not know its name; I call it Tao.
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.
Without stirring abroad, One can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window One can see the way of heaven. The further one goes The less one knows.
He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.
To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder.
He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.
Be the chief but never the lord.
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.
I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.
Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.
The words of truth are always paradoxical.
Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.
The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
All things in the world come from being. And being comes from non-being.
An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.
It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.
Nature is not human hearted.
Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.
Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
He who knows himself is enlightened.
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.
One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.
A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.