Best 485 quotes in «taoism quotes» category

The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of all things.

The perfect square lacks corners.

There is one appointed supreme executioner. Truly, trying to take the place of the supreme executioner is like trying to carve wood like a master carpenter. Of those who try to carve wood like a master carpenter, there are few who do not injure their hands.

There are two choices available in duality - one side or the other side. Everyting is formed from that.

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

The rigid tree will be felled.

The rigid and big belong below. The soft and weak belong above.

The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things... The complete whole is the complete whole. So also is any part the complete whole... But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one. The universe is already a harmonious oneness; just realize it.

The softest in the world surpasses the hardest in the world.

The sturdiest virtue seems fragile.

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

The Tao is like a well; used but never used up.

The Tao of the sage is work without effort.

The unyielding army will not win.

The Way is ever without action, yet nothing is left undone.

The virtuous carry out the settlement, but those without virtue pursue their claims.

The Way is empty, yet inexhaustible, like an abyss!

The Way is eternal. Until your last day, you are free from peril.

The Way is the source of all things, good people's treasure and bad people's refuge.

The way of heaven is to help and not harm.

The world's beginning is its mother. To have found the mother is also to know the children. Although you know the children, cling to the mother. Until your last day you will not be harmed.

The whole world says that my Way is great like nothing else. It is great because it is like nothing else. If it were like everything else, it would long ago have become insignificant.

The world is a sacred vessel that cannot be changed. He who changes it will destroy it. He who seizes it will lose it.

Thirty spokes are joined in the wheel's hub. The hole in the middle makes it useful.

Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.

Those who are quiet value the words. When their task is completed, people will say: We did it ourselves.

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

Those who praise victory relish manslaughter. Those who relish manslaughter cannot reach their goals in the world.

Those who are broad-minded and considerate are like the spring breeze, warm and nurturing, at show touch all being grow. Those who are envious an d cruel are like the snow of the northlands, stilling and freezing, at whose touch all beings die.

Those who advice the ruler on the Way, do not want the world subdued with weapons.

Those who stand on their toes are not steady.

True words seem false.

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.

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

To be brave without compassion, generous without moderation, and rule without refraining from being first in the world, are certain deaths.

To retreat after a work well done is Heaven's Way.

Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

Use the light to return to clarity.

Unconscious of the existence of Tao, beings live supposing themselves to be separate from the universal intelligence, supposing themselves to be powerful or to be weak, thinking that they live their lives and die their deaths.

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.

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.

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.

Weapons are ominous tools. They are not the noble ruler's tools. He only uses them when he can't avoid it.

We create ying and yang, yes and no, plus and minus.

Water uses itself to go beyond whatever it needs to go beyond.

Weapons are ominous tools. They are abhorred by all creatures. Anyone who follows the Way shuns them.

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.

What the Way is to the world, the stream is to the river and the sea.

What is essential to practice the Tao is to get rid of cravings and vexations. If these afflictions are not removed, it is impossible to attain stability. This is like the case of the fertile field, which cannot produce good crops as long as the weeds are not cleared away. Cravings and ruminations are the weeds of the mind; if you do not clear them away, concentration and wisdom do not develop.

"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.