Tao Te Ching

“Men resort to him, and receive no hurt, but (find) rest, peace, and the feeling of ease.”

“Simplicity without a name Is free from all external aim. With no desire, at rest and still, All things go right as of their will.”

“Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.”

“Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement.”

“In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.”

“To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those who are not good (to me), I am also good;--and thus (all) get to be good.”

“The sage is always skilful at saving men, and so he does not cast away any man.”

“The more that he expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more that he gives to others, the more does he have himself.”

“Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place.”

“It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to supplement deficiency.”

“To recompense injury with kindness.”

“Even men who are not good are not abandoned by it.”

“When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind of the one who was wrong).”

“The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new.”

“Misery!--happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness!--misery lurks beneath it!”

“Therefore the sufficiency of contentment is an enduring and unchanging sufficiency.”

“Who is content Needs fear no shame.”

“He who is satisfied with his lot is rich.”

“They should think their (coarse) food sweet; their (plain) clothes beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest; and their common (simple) ways sources of enjoyment.”

“There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition; no calamity greater than to be discontented with one's lot; no fault greater than the wish to be getting.”

“Who knows to stop Incurs no blame. From danger free Long live shall he.”

“To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.”

“He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.”

“The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he knows.”

“Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.”

“He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge); he who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks) from day to day to diminish (his doing).”

“Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.”

“He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines.”

“He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm.”

“Words that are strictly true seem to be paradoxical.”

“To those who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are not sincere (with me), I am also sincere;--and thus (all) get to be sincere.”

“Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it.”

“All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into which they have emerged), while they are harmonised by the Breath of Vacancy.”

“Who uses well his light, Reverting to its (source so) bright, Will from his body ward all blight, And hides the unchanging from men's sight.”

“Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear.”

“This returning to their root is what we call the state of stillness.”

“The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour.”

“Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao of Heaven.”

“Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see; Your inner being guard, and keep it free.”

“The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest.”

“With that gentleness I can be bold.”

“He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty.”

“The perception of what is small is (the secret of) clear-sightedness; the guarding of what is soft and tender is (the secret of) strength.”

“The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong.”

“Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.”

“There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it.”

“The journey of a thousand li commenced with a single step.”

“He who goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will.”

“If they were careful at the end, as (they should be) at the beginning, they would not so ruin them.”

“Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestly carry it into practice.”

“He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.”

“All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small.”

“Every one in the world knows that the soft overcomes the hard, and the weak the strong, but no one is able to carry it out in practice.”

“Who thinks his great achievements poor Shall find his vigour long endure.”

“Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any difficulties.”

“Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence.”

“A violent wind does not last for a whole morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day.”

“The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout.”

“So it is that some things are increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being increased.”

“The great Tao (or way) is very level and easy; but people love the by-ways.”

“Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?”

“Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao.”

“The meshes of the net of Heaven are large; far apart, but letting nothing escape.”

“Such a course is sure to meet with its proper return.”

“When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on itself.”

“The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind.”

“When he has cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw.”

“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.”

“The sage knows (these things) of himself, but does not parade (his knowledge); loves, but does not (appear to set a) value on, himself.”

“He who displays himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him.”

“It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full.”

“When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.”

“It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.”

“Or fame or life, Which do you hold more dear? Or life or wealth, To which would you adhere?”

“When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.”

“The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an achievement).”

“It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them.”

“He who in (Tao's) wars has skill Assumes no martial port; He who fights with most good will To rage makes no resort.”

“Calm and repose are what he prizes; victory (by force of arms) is to him undesirable.”

“He who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.”

“Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves.”

“Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay.”

“But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.”

“The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike.”

“He is straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not dazzle.”

“They do not wish to show themselves elegant-looking as jade, but (prefer) to be coarse-looking as an (ordinary) stone.”

“Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower.”