Top 500 Laozi Quotes (2026 Update)
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351. “To bear and not to own; to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay.”

— Laozi

352. “With virtue and quietness one may conquer the world.”

— Laozi

353. “The sage embraces the one, and is an example to the world.”

— Laozi

354. “If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”

— Laozi

355. “All things in the world are born out of being. Being is born out of non-being.”

— Laozi

356. “If you fail to honor your people, They will fail to honor you; It is said of a good leader that When the work is done, the aim fulfilled, The people will say, “We did this ourselves.””

— Laozi

357. “If you never assume importance, you never lose it.”

— Laozi

358. “The longer you travel, the less you know.”

— Laozi

359. “Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the various creatures as straw dogs; the sage is ruthless, and treats others as straw dogs.”

— Laozi

360. “Marriage is three parts love and seven parts forgiveness of sins.”

— Laozi

361. “If you close your mind in judgements and traffic with desires, your heart will be troubled. If you keep your mind from judging and aren’t led by the senses, your heart will find peace.”

— Laozi

362. “The weak overcomes the strong. The soft overcomes the hard. Everybody in the world knows this, still nobody makes use of it.”

— Laozi

363. “The reality of the building does not consist in the roof and walls, but in the space within to be lived in.”

— Laozi

364. “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

365. “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

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

370. “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

371. “When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder.”

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

381. “I alone have the mind of a fool, and am all muddled and vague. The people are so smart and bright. While I am just dull and confused.”

— Laozi

382. “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

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— 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. “A man is born gentle and weak. At death he is hard and stiff.”

— Laozi

392. “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

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

395. “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

396. “Seek not happiness too greedily and be not fearful of happiness.”

— Laozi

397. “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

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi

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

— Laozi