Taoist Quotes

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"The Tao is called the Great Mother: empty yet inexhaustible, it gives birth to infinite worlds."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 6 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 48 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"Look, and it can't be seen. Listen, and it can't be heard. Reach, and it can't be grasped."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 14 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"Act without doing; work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many. Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"In pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. In pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 48 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"The master does nothing, yet he leaves nothing undone. The ordinary man is always doing things, yet many more are left to be done."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 38 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"When nothing is done, nothing is left undone."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 48 (Ursula K. Le Guin translation)

"Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men doesn't try to force issues or defeat enemies by force of arms. For every force there is a counterforce."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 30 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive. It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 78 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?"

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 15 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"Yield and overcome. Bend and be straight. Empty and be full. Wear out and be new. Have little and gain. Have much and be confused."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 22 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 46 (Ursula K. Le Guin translation)

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

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 19 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"Fame or self: which matters more? Self or wealth: which is more precious? Gain or loss: which is more painful? He who is attached to things will suffer much."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"Return to the root is called stillness. Stillness is called returning to one's destiny. Returning to one's destiny is called the eternal."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Overcoming others is strength; overcoming yourself is true power."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"The more you know, the less you understand."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 47 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"True words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not true. The good man does not argue; the man who argues is not good."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 81 (Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation)

"Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease."

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 71 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"Stop thinking, and end your problems. What difference between yes and no? What difference between success and failure?"

— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 20 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chuang Tzu. Soon I awaked, and there lay Chuang Tzu on his bed. But I could not tell whether I was Chuang Tzu who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that I was Chuang Tzu."

— Zhuangzi, Chapter 2: Discussion on Making All Things Equal (Herbert Giles translation)

"My life has a limit, but my knowledge is without limit. To drive the limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one really knows is fatally dangerous."

— Zhuangzi, Chapter 3: The Secret of Caring for Life (Burton Watson translation)

"Prince Hui's cook was cutting up a bullock... He touched the great joints or cavities as they existed, according to the natural constitution of the animal... A good cook changes his chopper once a year — because he cuts. An ordinary cook, once a month — because he hacks."

— Zhuangzi, Chapter 3: The Secret of Caring for Life (Herbert Giles translation) — the parable of Cook Ding

"The mushroom of a morning knows not the alternation of day and night. The chrysalis knows not the alternation of spring and autumn. Theirs are short years."

— Zhuangzi, Chapter 1: Free and Easy Wandering (Burton Watson translation)

"Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to."

— Zhuangzi, Chapter 26: External Things (Burton Watson translation)