Top 90 Lao Tzu Quotes (2023 Update)

1. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

— Lao Tzu

2. “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.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Motivational Quotes

3. “The best fighter is never angry.”

— Lao Tzu

4. “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”

— Lao Tzu

5. “Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.”

— Lao Tzu

6. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Nature Quotes

7. “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

— Lao Tzu

8. “To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.”

— Lao Tzu

9. “Stop thinking, and end your problems.”

— Lao Tzu

10. “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Patience Quotes

11. “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Patience Quotes

12. “Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.”

— Lao Tzu

13. “Great acts are made up of small deeds.”

— Lao Tzu

14. “Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.”

— Lao Tzu

15. “When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.”

— Lao Tzu

16. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Courage Quotes

17. “Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Music Quotes

18. “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

— Lao Tzu

19. “What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.”

— Lao Tzu

20. “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

— Lao Tzu

21. “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.”

— Lao Tzu

22. “A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Courage Quotes

23. “By letting go it all gets done.”

— Lao Tzu

24. “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”

— Lao Tzu

25. “Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.”

— Lao Tzu

26. “Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.”

— Lao Tzu

27. “The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms.”

— Lao Tzu

28. “The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.”

— Lao Tzu

29. “Act without expectation.”

— Lao Tzu

30. “If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Persistence Quotes

31. “Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.”

— Lao Tzu

32. “If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”

— Lao Tzu

33. “Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”

— Lao Tzu

34. “Silence is a source of great strength.”

— Lao Tzu

35. “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.”

— Lao Tzu

Featured in: Leadership Quotes

36. “To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.”

— Lao Tzu

37. “If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.”

— Lao Tzu

38. “There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”

— Lao Tzu

39. “Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”

— Lao Tzu

40. “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.”

— Lao Tzu

41. “Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here.”

— Lao Tzu

42. “The way to do is to be.”

— Lao Tzu

43. “To see things in the seed, that is genius.”

— Lao Tzu

44. “Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.”

— Lao Tzu

45. “To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go.”

— Lao Tzu

46. “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

— Lao Tzu

47. “Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.”

— Lao Tzu

48. “The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”

— Lao Tzu

49. “As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.”

— Lao Tzu

50. “Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.”

— Lao Tzu