Top 500 Laozi Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Man is great. These are the four great powers. Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.”

— Laozi

102. “Wise men hear and see as little children do.”

— Laozi

103. “The usefulness of the pot lies in its emptiness.”

— Laozi

104. “Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short and long, life and death? Can you let go of all these dualities and embrace the Tao without skepticism or panic? If so, you can reach the heart of the Integral Oneness.”

— Laozi

105. “Everything will settle in its own place automatically.”

— Laozi

106. “He who is contented is rich.”

— Laozi

107. “Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained...”

— Laozi

108. “In order to eliminate the negative influences, simply ignore them.”

— Laozi

109. “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and if that step is the right step, it becomes the last step.”

— Laozi

110. “He who loves does not dispute: He who disputes does not love.”

— Laozi

111. “Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.”

— Laozi

112. “If you have truely attained wholeness, everything will flock to you.”

— Laozi

113. “Going on means going far, going far means returning.”

— Laozi

114. “The reason why rivers and seas are able to be lords over a hundred mountain streams, is that they know how to keep below them. That is why they are able to reign over all the mountain streams.”

— Laozi

115. “Failure is the foundation of success: success is the lurking place of failure.”

— Laozi

116. “Be empty. Be still. Just watch everything come and go. This is the way of Nature.”

— Laozi

117. “You will understand a great truth when you get to realize that what you do to others, you are doing to yourself.”

— Laozi

118. “To become learned, each day add something. To become enlightened, each day drop something.”

— Laozi

119. “A good runner leaves no footprints.”

— Laozi

120. “The master does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe is forever out of control, and that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Tao.”

— Laozi

121. “Through return to simple living comes control of desires. In control of desires stillness is attained. In stillness the world is restored.”

— Laozi

122. “On the one hand, loss implies gain; on the other hand, gain implies loss.”

— Laozi

123. “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.”

— Laozi

124. “Who is there who can make muddy waters clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually clear itself.”

— Laozi

125. “The greatest revelation is stillness.”

— Laozi

126. “Open yourself to the truth, then trust in your natural responses, and everything will fall into place.”

— Laozi

127. “An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.”

— Laozi

128. “The highest benevolence acts without purpose.”

— Laozi

129. “From wonder into wonder existence opens.”

— Laozi

130. “Without going outside, you may know the whole world, without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven. The farther you go, the less you know. Thus the sage knows without traveling; he sees without looking; he works without doing.”

— Laozi

131. “My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don’t analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being.”

— Laozi

132. “The sage acts by doing nothing.”

— Laozi

133. “When pure sincerity forms within, it is outwardly realized in other people’s hearts.”

— Laozi

134. “Why separate your spiritual life and your practical life? To an integral being, there is no such distinction.”

— Laozi

135. “Seeing the small is called clarity.”

— Laozi

136. “The leader’s main job is to make themselves obsolete.”

— Laozi

137. “When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance.”

— Laozi

138. “Only those who leisurely approach that which the masses are busy about can be busy about that which the masses take leisurely.”

— Laozi

139. “Embrace simplicity. Put others first. Desire little.”

— Laozi

140. “Simply see that you are at the center of the universe, and accept all things and beings as parts of your infinite body. When you perceive that an act done to another is done to yourself, you have understood the great truth.”

— Laozi

141. “Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Be still and allow the mud to settle.”

— Laozi

142. “The seed of mystery lies in muddy water. How can I perceive this mystery? Water becomes clear through stillness. How can I become still? By flowing with the stream.”

— Laozi

143. “Knowing that we don’t know it’s humility; thinking that we know what we don’t know, is sickness.”

— Laozi

144. “To know you have enough is to be rich.”

— Laozi

145. “Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.”

— Laozi

146. “Even the longest journey must begin where you stand.”

— Laozi

147. “The real key to health and happiness and success is self knowledge.”

— Laozi

148. “Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”

— Laozi

149. “Understand this if nothing else: spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao are not randomly bestowed gifts, but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution.”

— Laozi

150. “For all things difficult to acquire, the intelligent man works with perseverance.”

— Laozi