He who in (Tao's) wars has skill Assumes no martial port; He who fights with most good will To rage makes no resort He who vanquishes yet still Keeps from his foes apart; He whose...
As long as the evil deed done does not bear fruit, the fool thinks it is like honey; but when it ripens, then the fool suffers grief
Who knows his manhood's strength, Yet still his female feebleness maintains; As to one channel flow the many drains, All come to him, yea, all beneath the sky Thus he the constant...
This honouring of the Tao and exalting of its operation is not the result of any ordination, but always a spontaneous tribute
Who can take his own superabundance and therewith serve all under heaven? Only he who is in possession of the Tao!
Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly
A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in earnestness, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness, moves about like fire, burning all his fetters, small or large
If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it: happiness is the outcome of good
, Looking for the maker of this tabernacle, I shall have to run through a course of many births, so long as I do not find (him); and painful is birth again and again But now, maker...
He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils) He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things; he will attemper his brig...
Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. Having u...
When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a (previous) expiration; when he is going to weaken another, he will first strengthen him; when he is going to overthro...
Even a good man sees evil days, as long as his good deed has not ripened; but when his good deed has ripened, then does the good man see happy days
In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were (their rulers) In the next age they loved them and praised them In the next they feared them; in the next they d...
0 The movement of the Tao By contraries proceeds; And weakness marks the course Of Tao's mighty deeds
But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always looks for what is pure, who is disinterested, quiet, spotless, and intelligent
(The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its grasp is firm It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet its virile member may be excited;--showing the p...
The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey of a thousand li commenced with a single step
As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind
Men who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained treasure in their youth, perish like old herons in a lake without fish
He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I call a real driver; other people are but holding the reins
Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!- -he will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated
A man is not learned because he talks much; he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned
He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty He who is satisfied with his lot is...
The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps his mind in a state of indifference to all The people all keep their eyes and ears directed to him, and he deals wi...
It is the way of Heaven not to strive, and yet it skilfully overcomes; not to speak, and yet it is skilful in (obtaining a reply; does not call, and yet men come to it of themselve...
What makes a great state is its being (like) a low-lying, down- flowing (stream);--it becomes the centre to which tend (all the small states) under heaven
(Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure) (Those who) possessed in a l...
Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already
If you go on this way, you will make an end of pain! The way was preached by me, when I had understood the removal of the thorns (in the flesh)