Top 500 Laozi Quotes (2024 Update)
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351. “The reality of the building does not consist in the roof and walls, but in the space within to be lived in.”

— Laozi

352. “In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle – this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly.”

— Laozi

353. “Stretch the bow to the very full, and you will wish you had stopped in time.”

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

356. “When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority. Therefore the Master steps back so that people won’t be confused. He teaches without a teaching, so that people will have nothing to learn.”

— Laozi

357. “Taking things lightly must lead to big difficulties.”

— Laozi

358. “If you are untrustworthy, people will not trust you.”

— Laozi

359. “To realize that our knowledge is ignorance, This is a noble insight. To regard our ignorance as knowledge, This is mental sickness. Only when we are sick of the sickness Shall we cease to be sick. The Sage is not sick, being sick of sickness; This is the secret of health.”

— Laozi

360. “We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.”

— Laozi

361. “The more laws that are written, the more criminals are produced.”

— Laozi

362. “The True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.”

— Laozi

363. “Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath.”

— Laozi

364. “My words are very easy to understand and very easy to practice. Still, no one in the world can understand or practice them.”

— Laozi

365. “Be the chief but never the lord.”

— Laozi

366. “What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man. What is a bad man? A good man’s charge?”

— Laozi

367. “The sage wears coarse clothes, concealing jade.”

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

369. “Conquering others requires force. Conquering oneself requires strength.”

— Laozi

370. “Knowing that you do not know is the best. Not knowing that you do not know is an illness.”

— Laozi

371. “The Way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.”

— Laozi

372. “Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.”

— Laozi

373. “Understanding others is knowledge, Understanding oneself is enlightenment; Conquering others is power, Conquering oneself is strength.”

— Laozi

374. “So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind; Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily; Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness; Sometimes one is up and sometimes down. Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and complacency.”

— Laozi

375. “He who tip-toes cannot stand; he who strides cannot walk.”

— Laozi

376. “It’s hard to keep your balance standing tip-toe.”

— Laozi

377. “Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.”

— Laozi

378. “Clay is used to make vases, but it is the emptiness they contain that makes them useful.”

— Laozi

379. “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step – Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others.”

— Laozi

380. “Do not fear the aging of the body for it is the body’s way of seeking the root.”

— Laozi

381. “Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish – don’t overdo it.”

— Laozi

382. “The world is a sacred vessel that cannot be changed. He who changes it will destroy it. He who seizes it will lose it.”

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

384. “I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes as common as the grass.”

— Laozi

385. “Good words shall gain you honor in the marketplace, but good deeds shall gain you friends among men.”

— Laozi

386. “It is better to do one’s own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.”

— Laozi

387. “The sage is sharp but does not cut, pointed but does not pierce, forthright but does not offend, bright but does not dazzle.”

— Laozi

388. “A tree as wide as a man’s embrace grows from a tiny shoot.”

— Laozi

389. “Throw away profit and greed, and there won’t be any thieves.”

— Laozi

390. “The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that. What is grievance? The baggage of old thought and emotion.”

— Laozi

391. “I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy; the second is economy. The third is daring not to be ahead of others. From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity; From humility comes leadership.”

— Laozi

392. “The inner is the foundation of the outer. The still is master of the restless. The Sage travels all day yet never leaves his inner treasure.”

— Laozi

393. “For one gains by losing And loses by gaining.”

— Laozi

394. “My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice. Yet your intellect will never grasp them, and if you try to practice them, you’ll fail. My teachings are older than the world. How can you grasp their meaning? If you want to know me, look inside your heart.”

— Laozi

395. “Knowing the future is the flower of the Way, and the beginning of folly.”

— Laozi

396. “Those who are quiet value the words. When their task is completed, people will say: We did it ourselves.”

— Laozi

397. “Know honor, Yet keep humility. Be the valley of the universe! Being the valley of the universe, Ever true and resourceful, Return to the state of the uncarved block.”

— Laozi

398. “Things exalted then decay. This is going against the Way. What goes against the Way meets an early end.”

— Laozi

399. “I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.”

— Laozi

400. “True words are not fancy. Fancy words are not true. The good do not debate. Debaters are not good.”

— Laozi