Tao Te Ching
Last read December 8, 2021
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Highlights
20 highlights.
a ruler who revels in riches encourages thievery.
Page: 3
Wise rulers do not accumulate treasures, but seek to quiet the hearts of their people.
Page: 3
Who can protect a house full of gold and jewels? Excessive fortune brings about its own misfortune.
Page: 9
Everything that lives has a physical body, but the value of a life is measured by the soul.
Page: 11
Treat yourself well, but don’t pamper yourself excessively.
Page: 13
Here are the four fundamentals of true spirituality: recognize simplicity, cherish purity, reduce your possessions, diminish your desires.
Page: 19
It is unnatural to walk on tiptoe. Try to elevate yourself above others, and you will soon fall.
Page: 24
Good hikers need no maps; good speakers need no scripts; good counters need no abacus; good guards need no locks.
Page: 27
It is paradoxical but true— the tender outlasts the rigid; the gentle defeats the strong. Persuasion is better than compulsion.
Page: 36
The wise do not desire to be set aside as precious gems, nor discarded as worthless stones.
Page: 39
There are some things which it is a gain to lose, and a loss to gain.
Page: 42
Those who talk do not know; those who know do not talk. The wise shut their mouths and watch their actions.
Page: 56
The more restrictions are enacted, the poorer the people become. The more soldiers patrol the streets, the more disorderly the city becomes. The more officials are crafty and cunning, the harder the people are to control. The more laws and orders are issued, the more thieves and robbers abound.
Page: 57
The wise ruler says: If I practice restraint, the people will reform themselves. If I love peace, the people will become peaceful. If I am not greedy, the people will become prosperous. If I practice simplicity, the people will remain simple.
Page: 57
Not seizing things, they do not lose them. While others, in their mad rush for wealth, are always chasing success but coming up short. To succeed, be as attentive at the end of an enterprise as at the beginning.
Page: 64
When a person puts on a show, trying to appear great, their mediocrity is soon exposed.
Page: 67
The wise recognize the limits of their knowledge; the foolish think they know everything.
Page: 71
When taxes are excessive, the people starve. When officials are overbearing, the people rebel. When governments make life miserable, the people wish for death. Oppressive measures never achieve their intended results.
Page: 75
Those who are hard and inflexible belong to death’s domain; but the gentle and flexible belong to life.
Page: 76
True words are often unpleasant; pleasant words are often untrue. Those who know the truth do not argue about it; those who argue do not know the truth. Scholars are seldom the wisest people; the wise are seldom scholars. Those who steal from others impoverish themselves; those who give to others become rich. Those who fight do not win; those who win do not fight. This is the way of the Tao.
Page: 81