Laozi

Deal with the small as with the large.

Deal with the small as with the large.

Keep your mouth shut, guard your senses, and you will be free from trouble. Open your mouth, always be busy, and you will be beyond hope.

Keep your mouth shut, guard your senses, and you will be free from trouble. Open your mouth, always be busy, and you will be beyond hope.

The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way.

The sage is sharp but not cutting, pointed but not piercing, straightforward but not unrestrained, brilliant but not dazzling.

Governing a large country is like frying a small fish.

The sage wears rough clothing and holds the jewel in his heart.

When the great way falls into disuse, there are benevolence and rectitude.

The five colors make one blind in the eyes; the five tones make one deaf in the ears.

The greatest paradox of life is that death is the ultimate goal.

The best fighter is never angry.

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

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

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease.

The sage puts his own person last, and yet is found in the foremost place.

He who is content with what he has, is rich.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.