The best of all leaders is the one who helps people so that eventually they don’t need him.

If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind.

Marriage is three parts love and seven parts forgiveness of sins.

Clay is molded to form a cup, But it is on its non-being that the utility of the cup depends. Doors and windows are cut out to make a room, But it is on its...

Without stirring abroad, one can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window one can see the way of heaven. The further one goes the less one knows.

He who knows he has enough is rich.

Because of a great love, one is courageous.

The heart that gives, gathers.

Attain complete emptiness,Hold fast to stillness.Understanding the ordinary: Mind opens.Mind opening leads to compassion,Compassion to nobility,Nobility to heavenliness,Heavenliness to TAO. TAO endures. Your body dies.There is no danger.

De wijze heeft geen onwrikbare beginselen. Hij past zich aan anderen aan.(Free translation into English: The wise man has no firm principles. He adapts to others.)

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy

A thousand miles starts from beneath one’s feet.

Because of deep love, one is courageous. Because of frugality, one is generous. Because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the world.

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

When people see some things as beautiful,other things become ugly.When people see some things as good,other things become bad.

Rushing into action, you fail.Trying to grasp things, you lose them.Forcing a project to completion,you ruin what was almost ripe.Therefore the Master takes actionby letting things take their course.He remains as calm at the end...

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.

The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.

Advise the ruler to govern the state as one cooks a small fish – that is, don’t turn it so often in the pan that it disintegrates

Such is the essential mystery.

Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.

Love is of all the passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.

Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires.

Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one’s status in the eyes of others; And shame is fear of humiliation at one’s inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart...

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

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

To perceive things in the germ is intelligence

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...

He who defends with love will be secure; Heaven will save him, and protect him with love.

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.

To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

Fail to honor people,they fail to honor you; but of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aims fulfilled, they will all say, ‘We did this ourselves.’

The softest things in the world to overcome the hardest things in the world.

Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering oneself makes you fearless.

Heaven’s net is wide, but its mesh is fine

If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.

Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.

The sage does not hoard. Having bestowed all he has on others, he has yet more; having given all he has to others, he is richer still.

A tree trunk the size of a man grows from a blade as thin as a hair. A tower nine stories high is built from a small heap of earth.

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and look at the stars. This practice should answer the question.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.

To lead people, walk beside them… As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the...

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

One may know the world without going out of doors

A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.

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

A man who knows how little he knows is well, a man who knows how much he knows is sick. If, when you see the symptoms, you can tell, Your cure is quick.A sound man...

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