Laozi

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world.

The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.

To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

The leader is the servant who removes obstacles that prevent people from doing their work.

The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

The sage does not accumulate. The more that he expends for others, the more does he possess.

In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped.

He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty.

The world is a sacred vessel that cannot be acted upon.

To lead people, walk behind them.

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

One who is too insistent on his own view, finds few to agree with him.

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need the tiger use stripes to make itself beautiful.

By not going anywhere, one arrives at the destination.

The highest good is like water.

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water.