Quotes on Taoism

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

When there is no desire, all things are at peace

To exercise no-thought and rest in nothing is the first step toward resting in Tao. To start from nowhere and follow no road is the first step toward attaining Tao.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is.

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

But if you do not have the Tao yourself, what business have you spending your time in vain efforts to bring corrupt politicians into the right path?

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

(The Tao) is always present and always available. . . . If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things.

Yielding is the way of the Tao.

When bitter enemies make peace, surely some bitterness remains.

Excellent soldiers are not furious.

Warriors say: I dare not be like the host, but would rather be like the guest. I dare not advance an inch, but would rather retreat a foot.

The forceful and violent will not die from natural causes.

Peace and quiet are preferred. Victory should not be praised.

Weapons are ominous tools. They are abhorred by all creatures. Anyone who follows the Way shuns them.

Weapons are ominous tools. They are not the noble ruler's tools. He only uses them when he can't avoid it.

Thorn bushes grow where armies have camped.

There is one appointed supreme executioner. Truly, trying to take the place of the supreme executioner is like trying to carve wood like a master carpenter. Of those who try to carve wood like a master carpenter, there are few who do not injure their hands.

What is well planted will not be uprooted.

The truly great ones rely on substance, and not on surface, hold on to the fruit, and not to the flower.

Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.