Explore Quotes on Tao Ching

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding.

Observe how endings become beginnings.

The hard and stiff will be broken. _x000D_ The soft and supple will prevail.

If you want to know me, look inside your heart.

A foolish man is always doing, Yet much remains to be done.

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery.

A great nation is like a great man:When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.Having realized it, he admits it.Having admitted it, he corrects it.He considers those who point out his faultsas his most benevolent teachers.He thinks of his enemyas the shadow that he himself casts.

The Tao is infinite, eternal. Why is it eternal? It was never born; thus it can never die. Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; thus it is present for all beings. The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.

What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man. What is a bad man? A good man's charge?

Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?

The Tao is like a well; used but never used up.

If good happens, good; if bad happens, good.

The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist._x000D__x000D_The next best is a leader who is loved and praised._x000D__x000D_Next comes the one who is feared._x000D__x000D_The worst one is the leader that is despised ..._x000D__x000D_The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly._x000D__x000D_When they have accomplished their task,_x000D__x000D_the people say, "Amazing!_x000D__x000D_We did it, all by ourselves!

Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear?

When you are one with loss, the loss is experienced willingly.

Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.

The mark of a moderate man is freedom from his own ideas. Tolerant like the sky, all-pervading like sunlight, firm like a mountain, supple like a tree in the wind, he has no destination in view and makes use of anything life happens to bring his way.

Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know. Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity. Be like the Tao. It can't be approached or withdrawn from, benefited or harmed, honored or brought into disgrace. It gives itself up continually. That is why it endures.

The Master's power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed. He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old.

If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.

If you want to be given everything, give everything up.