85 Lao Tzu Quotes on Life, Love and Happiness

Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.

Men are born soft and supple; dead they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.

The words of truth are always paradoxical.

The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.

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.

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

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.

The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.

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.

He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.

Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.

Nature is not human hearted.