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Lao Tzu is commonly referenced as one of the greatest and most influential Chinese philosophers in history.
Lao Tzu was a Chinese philosopher who lived in 500 BCE. He is credited with founding the Chinese philosophical tradition known as Taoism, and is perhaps best known for authoring the Tao-Te-Ching, which has influenced millions of people since its inception.
Lao Tzu is one of the most quoted historical figures of all time, and for good reason. His philosophical teachings have a timeless quality that speaks to the core of the human experience.
Whether you’re struggling with relationships, your business, or just life in general, there is most likely a Lao Tzu quote that can offer valuable wisdom and advice on the matter.
It’s no secret that I love quotes. I have them posted all over my office and sometimes it can look borderline obsessive, but I don’t care.
Quotes are like little nuggets of wisdom that have been passed down through the ages to assist us in our modern age.
While Lao Tzu is said to have lived more than 2500 years ago, he messages are as true today as they were back then.
In this article I cover the advice and wisdom that Lao Tzu shared with his friends and followers on leadership, life, and love.
I hope these quotes help to guide you on your journey.
Let’s get started!
Lao Tzu Quotes on Leadership, Life, and Love
1. “The highest excellence is like (that of) water.”
2. “Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.”
3. “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”
4. “Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.”
5. “Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
6. “Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.”
7. “When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.”
8. “He who is satisfied with his lot is rich;”
9. “The Sage sees the world as an expansion of his own self So what need has he to accumulate things?”
10. “Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires.”
11. “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
12. “He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.”
13. “Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
14. “When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.”
15. “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 winning.”
16. “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”
17. “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
18. “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
19. “To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.”
20. “Loss is not as bad as wanting more.”
21. “What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.”
22. “By letting go it all gets done.”
23. “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
24. “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.”
25. “The more laws and restrictions there are, The poorer people become. The more rules and regulations, The more thieves and robbers.”
26. “Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.”
27. “If a person seems wicked, do not cast him away. Awaken him with your words, elevate him with your deeds, repay his injury with your kindness. Do not cast him away; cast away his wickedness.”
28. “To lead people, walk behind them.”
29. “I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.”
30. “The sage puts herself last and is first.”
31. “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’.”
32. “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”
33. “He who defends with love will love will be secure; Heaven will save him, and protect him with love.”
34. “The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. so the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind them. Thus, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be before them, they do not count it as an injury.”
35. “Embracing Tao, you become embraced. Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn. Clearing your vision, you become clear. Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial. Opening your heart, you become accepted. Accepting the World, you embrace Tao. Bearing and nurturing, Creating but not owning, Giving without demanding, Controlling without authority, This is love.”
36. “Act without expectation.”
37. “all streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. humility gives it its power. if you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. if you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.”
38. “Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.”
39. “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
40. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
41. “Love is of all the passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.”
42. “Because of a great love, one is courageous.”
43. “Love is a decision – not an emotion!”
44. “(Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure).”
45. “Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.”
46. “We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use.”
47. “So the unwanting soul sees what’s hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants.”
48. “Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.”
49. “Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here.”
50. “Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.”
51. “She does not show herself, and therefore is apparent. She does not affirm herself, and therefore is acknowledged. She does not boast and therefore has merit. She does not strive and therefore is successful. It is exactly because she does not contend, that nobody can contend with her.”
52. “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.”
53. “Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.”
54. “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.”
55. “Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.”
56. “The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know.”
57. “Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”
58. “If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”
59. “To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease. Recognizing this disease as a disease is to be free of it.”
60. “Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.”
61. “The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.”
62. “If you understand others you are smart. If you understand yourself you are illuminated. If you overcome others you are powerful. If you overcome yourself you have strength. If you know how to be satisfied you are rich. If you can act with vigor, you have a will. If you don’t lose your objectives you can be long-lasting. If you die without loss, you are eternal.”
63. “Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one’s growth.”
64. “Stop thinking, and end your problems.”
65. “At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”
66. “Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment”
67. “How could a decent person ever rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men”
68. “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
69. “A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.”
70. “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.”
71. “The best fighter is never angry.”
72. “He who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him.”
73. “The skillful speaker says nothing that can be found fault with or blamed;”
74. “Manage affairs before they are in a mess.”
75. “The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.”
76. “The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”
77. “Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.”
78. “Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.”
79. “He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.”
80. “It is the child that sees the primordial secret of Nature and it is the child of ourselves we return to. the child within us is simple and daring enough to live the Secret.”
81. “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
82. “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
83. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
84. “Silence is a source of great strength.”
85. “The Way to do is to be.”
86. “To see things in the seed, that is genius.”
87. “Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”
88. “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.”
89. “To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.”
90. “The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. so the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind them. Thus, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be before them, they do not count it as an injury.”
91. “He who talks more is sooner exhausted.”
My Favorite Lao Tzu Quote:
“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.”
