Top 500 Laozi Quotes (2026 Update)
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251. “A sound man is good at salvage, at seeing nothing is lost.”

— Laozi

252. “Stop thinking, and end your problems. What difference between yes and no? What difference between success and failure? Must you value what others value, avoid what others avoid? How ridiculous!”

— Laozi

253. “Giving to others selflesly and anonymously, radiating light throughout the world and illuminating your own darkness, your virtue becomes a sanctuary for yourself and all beings.”

— Laozi

254. “Realize thy Simple Self, Embrace thy Original Nature.”

— Laozi

255. “If you scramble about in search of inner peace, you will lose your inner peace.”

— Laozi

256. “Keep your mouth shut, and close up the doors of sight and sound, and as long as you live you will have no vexation. But open your mouth, or become inquisitive, and you will be in trouble all your life long.”

— Laozi

257. “Whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. What is soft is strong.”

— Laozi

258. “Conduct your triumph as a funeral.”

— Laozi

259. “The feminine values are the fountain of bliss. Know the masculine, Keep to the feminine.”

— Laozi

260. “Good walking leaves no track behind it.”

— Laozi

261. “Without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony.”

— Laozi

262. “Nothing on earth is so weak and yielding as water, but for breaking down the firm and strong it has no equal.”

— Laozi

263. “Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.”

— Laozi

264. “Returning to the source is serenity.”

— Laozi

265. “Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.”

— Laozi

266. “Few things under heaven bring more benefit than the lessons learned from silence and the actions taken without striving.”

— Laozi

267. “Not all spiritual paths lead to the harmonious Oneness. Indeed, most are detours and distractions, nothing more.”

— Laozi

268. “To retreat after a work well done is Heaven’s Way.”

— Laozi

269. “Because clarity and enlightenment are within your own nature, they are regained without moving an inch.”

— Laozi

270. “The Way is empty, yet inexhaustible, like an abyss!”

— Laozi

271. “Don’t impose your will through manipulation of aggressive emotions and actions.”

— Laozi

272. “Abandon knowledge and your worries are over.”

— Laozi

273. “Make the small big and the few many.”

— Laozi

274. “First, we must do our own personal work, then we tend the necessary work of our family, then our community, then the world.”

— Laozi

275. “The subtlest of subtleties, this is the gateway to all mysteries.”

— Laozi

276. “He who controls the past controls the future.”

— Laozi

277. “Gently eliminating all obstacles to his own understanding, he constantly maintains his unconditional sincerity. His humility, perseverance, and adaptability evoke the response of the universe and fill him with divine light.”

— Laozi

278. “Those who stay where they are will endure.”

— Laozi

279. “Without desire there is stillness, and the world settles by itself.”

— Laozi

280. “That the soft overcomes the hard, and the yielding overcomes the resistant, is a fact known by all, but practiced by few.”

— Laozi

281. “The truest sayings are paradoxical.”

— Laozi

282. “Practice non-action. Work without doing.”

— Laozi

283. “The eye with which you see God is the same eye with which God sees you; one in seeing; one in knowing; one in loving.”

— Laozi

284. “Those who boast are not respected.”

— Laozi

285. “Lessen selfishness and restrain desires.”

— Laozi

286. “Racing and hunting excite man’s heart to madness.”

— Laozi

287. “The highest virtue is not virtuous. Therefore it has virtue. The lowest virtue holds on to virtue. Therefore it has no virtue.”

— Laozi

288. “Goodie-goodies are the thieves of virtue.”

— Laozi

289. “What is firmly rooted cannot be pulled out.”

— Laozi

290. “All things carry yin and embrace yang. They reach harmony by blending with the vital breath.”

— Laozi

291. “If you see what is small as it sees itself, and accept what is weak for what strength it has, and use what is dim for the light it gives then all will go well. This is called Acting Naturally.”

— Laozi

292. “Do not attempt to conquer the world with force, for force only causes resistance.”

— Laozi

293. “To know one’s ignorance is the best part of knowledge.”

— Laozi

294. “Justice has long arm.”

— Laozi

295. “Yet mystery and reality emerge from the same source.”

— Laozi

296. “Face the simple fact before it comes involved. Solve the small problem before it becomes big.”

— Laozi

297. “When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, and dignified as a king. Immersed in wonder, you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready.”

— Laozi

298. “Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking. Center your country in the Tao and evil will have no power. Not that it isn’t there, but you’ll be able to step out of its way. Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.”

— Laozi

299. “Loving, hating, having expectations: all these are attachments. Attachment prevents the growth of one’s true being.”

— Laozi

300. “Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy. Act on large issues while they are small.”

— Laozi