Top 500 Laozi Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.”

— Laozi

52. “The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.”

— Laozi

53. “Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course? Can you step back from you own mind and thus understand all things? Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.”

— Laozi

54. “A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.”

— Laozi

55. “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.”

— Laozi

56. “It is as though he listened and such listening as his enfolds us in silence in which at last we begin to hear what we are meant to be.”

— Laozi

57. “You cannot receive what you don’t give. Outflow determines inflow.”

— Laozi

58. “Have patience. Wait until the mud settles and the water is clear. Remain unmoving until right action arises by itself.”

— Laozi

59. “Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.”

— Laozi

60. “The Tao is unpredictable to those that live according to plans. Only those who have no agenda are in harmony with the Tao.”

— Laozi

61. “Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.”

— Laozi

62. “Simple, like uncarved wood.”

— Laozi

63. “Peace is our natural state of being.”

— Laozi

64. “The world is ruled by letting things take their course. It cannot be ruled by interfering.”

— Laozi

65. “Leadership is your ability to hide your panic from others.”

— Laozi

66. “In the end, The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go.”

— Laozi

67. “A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. Thus by nature’s own decree, the soft and gentle are triumphant.”

— Laozi

68. “The master understands that the universe is forever out of control.”

— Laozi

69. “Complete your task. Seek no reward. Make no claims. Without faltering fully choose to do what you must do.”

— Laozi

70. “If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled.”

— Laozi

71. “When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.”

— Laozi

72. “A winner listens, a loser just waits until it is their turn to talk.”

— Laozi

73. “Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.”

— Laozi

74. “In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.”

— Laozi

75. “To conquer others is to have power, to conquer yourself is to know the way.”

— Laozi

76. “If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.”

— Laozi

77. “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.”

— Laozi

78. “A vessel is formed from a lump of clay with care, however, it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.”

— Laozi

79. “From caring comes courage.”

— Laozi

80. “The soft and weak overcome the hard and strong.”

— Laozi

81. “The most powerful weapon known is the weapon of blessing. Therefore, a clever person relies on it. He wins with peace, not with war.”

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

83. “Stay at the center and let all things take their course.”

— Laozi

84. “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.”

— Laozi

85. “The Tao is always at ease. It overcomes without competing, answers without speaking a word, arrives without being summoned, accomplishes without a plan. Its net covers the whole universe. And though its meshes are wide, it doesn’t let a thing slip through.”

— Laozi

86. “The way of heaven is to help and not harm.”

— Laozi

87. “Those who know it do not speak about it. Those who speak about it do not know it.”

— Laozi

88. “The master accomplishes more and more by doing less and less until finally he accomplishes everything by doing nothing.”

— Laozi

89. “Free from desire, you realize the mystery, caught in the desire, you see only the manifestations.”

— Laozi

90. “The world is won by those who let it go.”

— Laozi

91. “Attain utmost emptiness. Abide in steadfast stillness.”

— Laozi

92. “Be as the still mountain; Move like the great river.”

— Laozi

93. “Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves.”

— Laozi

94. “Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.”

— Laozi

95. “Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature. The way of nature is unchanging. Knowing constancy is insight.”

— Laozi

96. “Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity.”

— Laozi

97. “Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.”

— Laozi

98. “All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.”

— Laozi

99. “Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.”

— Laozi

100. “Be who you are, and go the whole way.”

— Laozi