140 Inspirational Lao Tzu Quotes

Looking for some words of wisdom from Lao Tzu? We have rounded up some of the best quotes, sayings, passages (with images and pictures) by Lao Tzu, or the Tao Te Ching to inspire you in life.

Best known for his reputed ancient classic text Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, Lao-Tzu was of one the best poet and philosopher of ancient China. Lao Tzu was famous for his words of wisdom and inspiring power words which are life changing.

Collection of Famous Lao Tzu Quotes

“Peace is our original state.”
“The best fighter is never angry.”
“Stop thinking, and end your problems.”
“Who acts in stillness finds stillness in his life.”
“Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.”
“The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong.”
“When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.”
“Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.”
“Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one’s growth.”
“The more laws that are written, the more criminals are produced.”
“The ruler attains wholeness in the correct governance of the people.”
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it”
“The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.”
“When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself.”
“It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full.”
“Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time,” is like saying, “I don’t want to.”
“A man with outward courage dares to die: a man with inner courage dares to live.”
“I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.”
“What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher. What is a bad man but a good man’s job.”
“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.”
“The best of all leaders is the one who helps people so that eventually they don’t need him.”
“If I had just a little bit of wisdom I should walk the great path and fear only straying from it.”
“The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.”
“Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretches her fingers to touch the heavens.”
“If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.”
“One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.”
“The master dwells in the substantial and not in the superficial. Rests in the fruit and not in the flower.”
“If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold.”
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready… The teacher will Disappear.”
“Simplicity has no name is free of desires. Being free of desires it is tranquil. And the world will be at peace of it’s own accord.”
“Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.”
“To avoid disappointment, know what is sufficient. To avoid trouble, know when to stop. If you are able to do this, you will last a long time.”
“Knowing others is to be clever. Knowing yourself is to be enlightened. Overcoming others requires force. Overcoming yourself requires strength.”
“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 much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”

Deep Lao Tzu Love Quotations and Sayings

“Act without expectation.”
“From caring comes courage.”
“By letting go, it all gets done.”
“The heart that gives, gathers.”
“Love is a decision. Not an emotion.”
“Because of great love, one is courageous.”
“The True Person avoids extremes, self-indulgence, and extravagance.”
“A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.”
“He who defends with love will be secure; Heaven will save him, and protect him with love.”
“The hard and mighty lie beneath the ground. While the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.”
“To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.”
“Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.”
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
“Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.”

Most Inspiring Lao Tzu Quotes Life

“He who talks more is sooner exhausted.”
“Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.”
“Who acts in stillness finds stillness in his life.”
Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.”
“He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.”
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”
“Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.”
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
“The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”
“If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.”
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.”
“Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.”
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”
“Use the light that is within you to revert to your natural clearness of sight.”
“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.”
“If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.”
“Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.”
“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
“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.”
“Few things under heaven bring more benefit than the lessons learned from silence and the actions taken without striving.”
“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.”
“People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.”
“Heaven is long-enduring, and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is that they do not live of, or for, themselves.”
“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.”
“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.”

Quotes by Lao Tzu on Peace and Happiness

“Peace is our original state.”
“He who is contented is rich.”
“By letting go it all gets done.”
“He who is satisfied with his lot is rich;”
“Stop thinking, and end your problems.”
“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.”
“When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.”
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”
“Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires.”
“Make your heart like a lake with a calm still surface and great depths of kindness.”
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.”
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are, and you know what you want.”
“The Sage sees the world as an expansion of his own self So what need has he to accumulate things?”
“Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.”
“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.”
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.”
“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.”
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
“The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covets praise, yet cannot avoid its rewards in honors.”

Famous Lao Tzu Philosophy Quotes and Sayings

“The best fighter is never angry.”
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.”
“To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.”
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
“Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.”
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”
“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”
“What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.”
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
“If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.”
“For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.”
“Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time,” is like saying, “I don’t want to.”
“A man with outward courage dares to die: a man with inner courage dares to live.”
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.”
“All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.”
“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.”
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”
“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”
“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.”

LAz tzu quotes on patience images — LAz tzu quotes on patience

Great Quotes of Lao Tzu about Leadership

“To lead people, walk behind them.”
“To see things in the seed, that is genius.”
“An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.”
“Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.”
“When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.”
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
“He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.”
“Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.”
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where your are heading.”
“When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.”
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.”
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
“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.”
“The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, We did it ourselves.”

Best Lao Tzu Wisdom Quotes

“Great acts are made up of small deeds.”
“The words of truth are always paradoxical”
“If you want to know me look inside your heart.”
“To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.”
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
“Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”
“He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.”
“Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.”
“He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.”
“Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.”
“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.”
“If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.”
“One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.”
“If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”
“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.”
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”
“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.”
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready… The teacher will Disappear.”