Laozi

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

The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people will be.

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.

The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things and does not contend.

He who is attached to things will suffer much.

The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.

Do you want to improve the world? I don't think it can be done.

The Tao is always at ease. It does not act, yet it leaves nothing undone.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

The sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

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.

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.

Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.

Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield.

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.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.