Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The Master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is as open as the sky.
Everything is part of one web, one matrix of existence, beyond discussion. This is our true self in its undifferentiated form.
The highest virtue is not virtuous. Therefore it has virtue. The lowest virtue holds on to virtue. Therefore it has no virtue.
The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao.
Why did the ancients praise the Way? Did they not say it was because you find what you seek and are saved from your wrongdoings?
The highest virtue does nothing. Yet, nothing needs to be done. The lowest virtue does everything. Yet, much remains to be done.
Before perception, before a preceiver, existence was - is. This is the consciousness that we refer to as nirvana, God, eternity.
Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.
If you do not join the polluted, then you are pure; if you reject society in search of purity, that is not purity but fanaticism.
The Master doesn't seek fulfillment. For only those who are not full are able to be used which brings the feeling of completeness.
The primary quality that Lao Tzu seems to emobdy is humility, which is the image of water - seeking the common level of existence.
They can see their neighbors. Roosters and dogs can be heard from there. Still, they will age and die without visiting one another.
When the government is quite unobtrusive, people are indeed pure. When the government is quite prying, people are indeed conniving.
The dreams of existence of that we call time, space, matter, subject, object, yin, yang - everything flows forth from this tai chi.
See others as yourself. See families as your family. See towns as your town. See countries as your country. See worlds as your world.
If there's no background, no foreground, no opposition, no complements, then there's no change becasue there's no subject and object.
When it reaches a blockage, water find the easiest path around the blockage, or it continues to assemble, and flows over the blockage.
If the sage wants to stand above people, he must speak to them from below. If he wants to lead people, he must follow them from behind.
Those who have come to an impasse should examine their original intentions; those who have succeeded should note where they are heading.
What we are seeking is the nexus of all possible worlds and states of mind, which is within us. The source of yin and yang is within you.
To bear the country's disgrace is to rule the shrines of soil and grain. To bear the country's misfortunes is to be the king of the world.
To be brave without compassion, generous without moderation, and rule without refraining from being first in the world, are certain deaths.
There is no greater fault than sensual indulgence. There is no greater misfortune than malcontent. There is no greater calamity than greed.
Warriors say: I dare not be like the host, but would rather be like the guest. I dare not advance an inch, but would rather retreat a foot.
The supreme rulers are hardly known by their subjects. The lesser are loved and praised. The even lesser are feared. The least are despised.
The limitations that we can see of the sexual description of reality are very apparent. Very few men attain enlightenment, even fewer women.
Just as when water is frozen in to a form as ice and then melts - so at the time of death, there is no death. The spirit simply changes form.
I have three treasures that I cherish. The first is compassion. The second is moderation. The third is not claiming to be first in the world.
When there is time, there has to be suffering. Because in time there's desire and attachment and transition. This is the world of experience.
My words are very easy to understand and very easy to practice; but there is no one in the world who is able to understand and practice them.
We really have no choice in the matter. We are given a description of the world that is much more potent and much deeper than you might realize.
Lao-tze's Taoism is the exhibition of a way or method of living which men should cultivate as the highest and purest development of their nature.
The strongest factor in conditioning is sex, in the sense that the first thing that a person is really taught is whether they are male or female.
Taoism extols the virtue of flexibility. What survives on earth is what effortlessly adapts to the changing environment and changing circumstances.
By ethical argument and moral principle the greatest crimes are eventually shown to have been necessary, and, in fact, a signal benefit to mankind.
But if you do not have the Tao yourself, what business have you spending your time in vain efforts to bring corrupt politicians into the right path?
The great Way is all-pervading. It reaches to the left and to the right. All things depend on it with their existence. Still it demands no obedience.
Tao is beyond words and beyond things. It is not expressed either in word or in silence. Where there is no longer word or silence Tao is apprehended.
Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.
When the world is ruled according to the Way, the ghosts lose their power. The ghosts do not really lose their power, but it is not used to harm people.
One of our predecessors said, "Throwing away the inexhaustible treasury of your own home, you go with your bowl from door to door, acting like a beggar"
Taoism has no rules. It's a suggestion for preceiving life in its wholeness, without unnessary categorization, yet enjoying the beauty of categorization.
(The Tao) is always present and always available. . . . If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things.
If those who give are conscious of their own generosity and those who receive feel indebted, they are no longer family but rather strangers doing business.
Of all things, none does not revere the Way and honor virtue. Reverence of the Way and honoring virtue were not demanded of them, but it is in their nature.
When the sage stands above people, they are not oppressed. When he leads people, they are not obstructed. The world will exalt him and not grow tired of him.
Don't be too severe in criticizing people's faults; consider how much they can bear. Don't be too lofty in enjoining virtue, so people may be able to follow.
Get some distance on yourself and undertand the multilevel structure that's operating. There's a power structure within you. You're a very political creature.
We should not weep or cry or be upset when we see the generations pass, because all are forms of the infinite creation. They are not real, they are not eternal.