Taoism Quotes

Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right.

Those who seek knowledge, collect something every day. Those who seek the Way, let go of something every day.

If you search everywhere, yet cannot find what you are seeking, it is because what you seek is already in your possession.

Stop thinking, and end your problems.

True words are not pleasing. Pleasing words are not true.

If you persist in trying to attain what is never attained (It is Tao's gift), if you persist in making effort to obtain what effort cannot get, if you persist in reasoning about what cannot be understood, you will be destroyed by the very thing you seek. To know when to stop, to know when you can get no further by your own action, this is the right beginning!

Allow your softer, more intuitive, and less dominating feminine qualities to rise to the fore, so that you're surrendering rather than dominating, receiving rather than broadcasting, loving rather than fighting.

Embrace simplicity. Put others first. Desire little.

Tao loves and nourishes all things, but does not dominate it over them.

The Tao is told is not the Tao.

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.

If you can find true contentment, it will last forever.

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.

The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do.

The Tao principle is what happens of itself.

Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.

See others as yourself. See families as your family. See towns as your town. See countries as your country. See worlds as your world.

Loss is not as bad as wanting more.

Because of a great love, one is courageous.

Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you've got.

Goodness in words creates trust, goodness in thinking creates depth, goodness in giving creates love.

A good person is the bad person's teacher. A bad person is the good person's task.

Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!

When you accurately perceive the fluidity of things, you can also begin to perceive the constancy behind them: the creative, transformative, boundless, immutable Tao.

Solve it before it happens. Order it before chaos emerges.

All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.

Every step is on the path.

Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.

Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.

The value of teaching without words and accomplishing without action is understood by few in the world.

All men desire to free themselves solely from death; they do not know how to free themselves from life.

Quiet your mind and stop judging and resisting and manipulating the natural way.

Your name or your body, what is dearer? Your body or your wealth, what is worthier?

Those who act will fail. Those who seize will lose.

He who does not trust enough will not be trusted.

Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world.

Abandon cleverness, discard profit, and thieves and robbers will disappear.

Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

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.

If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.

To have enough of enough is always enough.

Knowing that you do not know is the best. Not knowing that you do not know is an illness.

Sometimes gain comes from losing, and sometimes loss comes from gaining.

Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river.

I do not act, and people become reformed by themselves.

"What's that?" the Unbeliever asked. "Wisdom from the Western Taoist," I said. "It sounds like something from Winnie-the-Pooh," he said. "It is," I said. "That's not about Taoism," he said. "Oh, yes it is," I said.

Hold on to the ancient Way to master the present, and to learn the distant beginning.

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?