“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about other people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.  Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.”

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

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.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Great acts are made up of small deeds.

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

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.

The words of truth are always paradoxical.

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”

“Stop thinking, and end your problems.”

“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”

“Act without expectation.”

“To know that you do not know is the best. To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.”

“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.”

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

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

One can not reflect in streaming water.

Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.

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

“Men are born soft and supple; dead they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.”

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

“To understand the limitation of things, desire them.”

“Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.”

“If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart.”

“There is a time to live and a time to die but never to reject the moment.”

“Thus it is said: The path into light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long, true power seems weak… the greatest love seems indifferent, the greatest wisdom seems childish.”

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.  If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”