Top 90 Deng Ming-Dao Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature and its power is never diminished.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

2. “Give back what you have learned. Share your experience.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

3. “The follower of Tao is always flexible and adaptable to circumstance.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

4. “Money is never more important than your body and mind, but you must work and support yourself. Never depend on others for your livelihood.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

5. “All teachings are mere references. The true experience is living your own life. Then, even the holiest of words are only words.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

6. “Use a mirror in difficult times. You will see both cause and resolution.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

7. “By being receptive, we can avail ourselves of the spiritual wealth available to us. By being open, we can receive things beyond what we ourselves might imagine.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

8. “Expression is never helped by suppression.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

9. “Muddy water will become clear if allowed to stand undisturbed, and so too will the mind become clear if it is allowed to be still.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

10. “A moving door hinge never corrodes. Flowing water never grows stagnant.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

11. “Self-discipline leads to higher spiritual states only if practiced with under- standing. The clearer the goal, the greater the result.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

12. “Knowing the steps to create living growth: that is art.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

13. “Whether we remain the ash or become the phoenix is up to us.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

14. “Even on the road to hell, flowers can make you smile.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

15. “Worry is an addiction that interferes with compassion.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

16. “There is no language of the holy. The sacred lies in the ordinary.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

17. “Who you are is always right.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

18. “The appreciation of life does not require wealth or plenty. It requires only gratitude for the beauty of the world.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

19. “Cooperation with others. Perception, experience, tenacity. Know when to lead and when to follow.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

20. “An ancient gnarled tree: Too fibrous for a logger’s saw, Too twisted to fit a carpenter’s square, Outlasts the whole forest.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

21. “Once you have seen the face of God, you see the same face on everyone you meet.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

22. “You may be capable of great things, But life consists of small things.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

23. “Once we make our decision, all things will come to us. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

24. “Those who don’t know how to suffer are the worst off. There are times when the only correct thing we can do is to bear out troubles until a better day.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

25. “One should never stop learning, never stop exploring, never stop going on adventures. Be like the explorers of old. What they acquired for themselves will always surpass those who merely read about their exploits.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

26. “We may be floating on Tao, but there is nothing wrong with steering. If Tao is like a river, it is certainly good to know where the rocks are.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

27. “The sages say that life is illusion, but does that change its poignancy?”

— Deng Ming-Dao

28. “Rain scatters plum petals; Weeping stains the earth. One can only take shelter And wait for clearing.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

29. “Unlocking our potential requires education, experience, and determination. One should never stop learning, never stop exploring, never stop going on adventures.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

30. “Do you want to know how spirituality works? Breathe.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

31. “Trees in winter lose their leaves. Some trees may even fall during storms, but most stand patiently and bear their fortune.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

32. “Some Warriors look fierce, but are mild. Some seem timid, but are vicious. Look beyond appearances; position yourself for the advantage.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

33. “Reject labels. Reject identities. Reject conformity. Reject convention. Reject definitions. Reject names.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

34. “Death is not an ending. It is a transformation.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

35. “A good master leads you to the true master within. Only that master, who is your own higher self, can adequately answer all questions.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

36. “If you have a good idea, use it so that you will not only accomplish something, but so that you can make room for new ones to flow into you.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

37. “Adversity is the tempering of one’s mettle. Without it, we cannot know any true meaning in our accomplishments.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

38. “Those truly linked don’t need correspondence. When they meet again after many years apart, Their friendship is as true as ever.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

39. “Let us be sad; it is feeling that makes us human.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

40. “Each day your life grows a day shorter. Make every move count.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

41. “The mind that turns ever outward Will have no end to craving. Only the mind turned inward Will find a still-point of peace.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

42. “Did you measure to attain your height? Did you use geometry to radiate your limb? Did you lament storm-torn branches? Did you inventory your leaves for the sun? You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness Cannot match your perfection.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

43. “Help others for all the times that you have been ignored. Be kind to others, for all the times that you have been scorned.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

44. “Above all, be compassionate. This is a stand against all evil and it opens your spirit.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

45. “If you practiced for the day, then you have won. If you were lazy for the day, then you have lost.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

46. “Death is not an ending. It is a transformation. Death is the threshold of this life. Beyond it is something else, some mystery.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

47. “Grappling with fate is like meeting an expert wrestler: to escape, you have to accept the fall when you are thrown. The only thing that counts is whether you get back up.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

48. “It is too facile to say that the way to follow Tao is to simply go along with the flow of life. Sometimes, like the carp, we must know when to go it alone.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

49. “A funeral is for those left behind. Sometimes, one wonders if the weeping is more out of fear for ourselves than it is sympathy for the deceased.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

50. “We need faith, not because there are beings who will punish us or reward us, but because gods are a wonderful way of describing things that are happening to us.”

— Deng Ming-Dao