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• Change your life by literally changing the way you think.
• When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
• Ever desireless, one can see the mystery; ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations. And the mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding.
• When my work is done, it is forgotten. That is why it lasts forever.
• I know that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
• I work at eliminating all of my judgments of others.
• Hold on to the center. Man was made to sit quietly and find the truth within.
• I pay attention to my inner callings and apply my own uniqueness to everything I undertake.
• It is through selfless action that I experience my own fulfillment.
• For this reason the sage puts himself last and so ends up ahead. He stays a witness to life, so he endures.
• Serve the needs of others and all your own needs will be fulfilled. Through selfless action, fulfillment is attained.
• I live in accordance with nature and therefore never go against the way of things.
• One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things. He moves in harmony with the present moment, always knowing the truth of just what to do.
• When my cup is full, I stop pouring.
• Retire when then work is done, this is the way of heaven.
• I suspend my belief in opposites by seeing myself in all.
• The usefulness of what is depends on what is not.
• I choose to ignore the seductive lives of acquisition and fame.
• The chase and the hunt craze people’s minds.
• Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one’s growth.
• The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. He prefers what is within to what is without.
• I see myself as everything. I love myself as everyone.
• Man’s true self is eternal, yet he thinks, I am this body and will soon die. If we have no body, what calamities can we have?
• One who sees himself as everything is fit to be guardian of the world. One who loves himself as everyone is fit to be teacher of the world.
• Discovering how things have always been brings me into harmony with the way.
• That which cannot be seen is called invisible. That which cannot be heard is called inaudible. That which cannot be held is intangible. These three cannot be defined; therefore, they are merged as one. Each of these three is subtle for description. By intuition you can see it, hear it, and feel it. Then the unseen, unheard, and untouched are present as one.
• The place of my origination is stillness, from which all creation originates.
• The ancient masters were profound and subtle. Their wisdom was unfathomable. There is no way to describe it. One can only describe them vaguely by their appearance. Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream. Alert, like men aware of danger. Simple as uncarved wood. Hollow like caves. Yielding, like ice about to melt. Amorphous, like muddy water.
• Amidst the rush of worldly comings and goings, I observe how all endings become beginnings.
• Become totally empty. Let your heart be at peace. Amidst the rush of worldly comings and goings, observe how endings become beginnings.
• Things flourish, each by each, only to return to the source…to what is and what is to be.
• To return to the root is find peace. To find peace is to fulfill one’s destiny. To fulfill one’s destiny is to be constant. To know the constant is called insight. Not knowing this cycle leads to eternal disaster.
• I fully trust that others do know what is best for them.
• I am moral, profitable, and a genius extraordinaire, regardless of what any transcript or bank statement might say.
• It is more important to see the simplicity, to realize one’s true nature, to cast off selfishness and temper desire.
• The greatest virtue is to follow the Tao and the Tao alone. The Tao is elusive and intangible. Although formless and intangible, it gives rise to form. Although vague and elusive, it gives rise to shapes. Although dark and obscure, it is the spirit, the essence, the life breath of all things.
• I resist any brokenness by being flexible and bending when storms appear.
• The flexible are preserved unbroken is surely right! If you have truly attained wholeness, everything will flock to you.
• In all of nature, no storm can last forever.
• Those who follow the way become one with the way. Those who follow goodness become one with goodness. Those who stray from the way and goodness become one with failure.
• Open yourself to the Tao and trust your natural responses…then everything will fall into place.
• Boasting and showing off are examples of superfluous excesses. These practices must be uprooted, thrown out and left behind forever.
• I come from greatness, I attract greatness, I am greatness.
• I have the ability to stay poised and centered regardless of what goes before me.
• To be restless is to lose one’s self-mastery.
• What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher? What is a bad man but a good man’s job.
• If you preserve your original qualities, you can govern anything. Truly, the best governor governs least.
• There is a time for being ahead. There is a time for being behind. There is a time for being in motion. There is a time for being at rest. There is a time for being vigorous. There is a time for being exhausted.
• Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose.
• Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it too is a vessel of perfection.
• Whatever strains with force will soon decay.
• I take the line of least resistance in all of my actions.
• After you have attained your purpose, you must not parade your success, you must not boast of your ability, you must not feel proud; you must rather regret that you had not been able to prevent the war.
• You must never think of conquering others by force.
• I allow my highest nature to come forward by bringing love to the places where I used to live in hatred.
• For peace and quiet are dearest to the decent man’s heart, and to him even a victory is no cause for rejoicing.
• It is a good sign when man’s higher nature comes forward. A bad sign when his lower nature comes forward.
• Once the whole is divided, the parts need names. There are already enough names; know when to stop. Know when reason sets limits to avoid peril.
• One who understands others has knowledge; one who understands himself has wisdom. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self needs strength.
• If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.
• By not wanting, there is calm, and the world will straighten itself. When there is silence, one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself.
• The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self. The highest kindness is to give without condition.
• The great master follows his own nature and not the trappings of life.
• By following the way, I do not become complicated, extraordinary, or prominent, rather, I become subtle, simple and uncomplicated.
• For one gains by losing, and lose by gaining.
• I let go of my need for more, and live in a state of pure gratitude, giving is replacing my demand for more.
• A contented man is never disappointed.
• The experience of inner peace is my true gauge of all accomplishments.
• Stillness and tranquility set things in order in the universe.
• The worst of faults is wanting more – always.
• Contentment alone is enough. Indeed, the bliss of eternity can be found in your contentment.
• The farther one goes, the less one knows.
• Learning consists of daily accumulating.
• True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It cannot be gained by interfering.
• The sage has no fixed mind; he is aware of the needs of others.
• I am an immortal spiritual being having a temporary human experience.
• Realize your essence and you will witness the end without ending.
• All under heaven have a common beginning. This beginning is the mother of the world and my eternal mother.
• Seeing the small is called clarity; keeping flexible is called strength.
• Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know. The less I care about the approval of others, the more approval I receive.
• I work at allowing all others to trust in their highest nature rather than imposing my rules and regulations on them. Moreover, I am free to be myself, I do not have to live by anyone else’s rules.
• I practice living without limits by gathering virtue and modeling it.
• Restraint being with giving up one’s own ideas.
• When I refrain from thoughts of harm directed toward others, I accumulate all the benefits of life.
• If a person seems wicked, do not cast him away. Awaken him with your words, elevate him with your deeds, repay his injury with your kindness. Do not cast him away; cast away his wickedness.
• I see simplicity in the complicated. I do great things while they are small. I can get anywhere from here.
• Practice nonaction. Work without doing. Taste the tasteless. Magnify the small, increase the few. Reward bitterness with care. See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things.
• Take on difficulties while they are still easy; do great things while they are still small. The sage does not attempt anything very big; and thus achieves greatness.
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. A tree grows from one seedling. A tower starts with one brick.
• People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care at the end as at the beginning, Then there will be no failure.
• The simplest pattern is the clearest. Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature.
• I do not put myself above others or see myself as superior to anyone. I am like the great ocean where all stream flow to me because I stay low, and this I am a servant to all.
• Whatever I fight weakens me. What I cooperate with strengthens me.
• Embody the virtue of noncompetition. This is called the virtue of noncontending. This is called employing the powers of others.
• Knowing ignorance is strength. Ignoring knowledge is sickness.
• Only when we are sick of our sickness shall we cease to be sick. The sage is not sick but is sick of sickness; this is the secret of health.
• I accept myself as I am, and I surrender to the natural course of my body’s destiny.
• When people lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.
• It is heaven’s way to conquer without striving.
• I realize that all things change; therefore, there is nothing for me to hold on to. By not fearing death, there is nothing that I cannot achieve.
• Act for the people’s benefit; trust them, leave them alone.
• The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.
• I can keep on giving because there is no end to my wealth. I am pleased to offer my surpluses to others.
• One with true virtue always seeks a way to give. One who lacks true virtue always seeks a way to get. To the giver comes the fullness of life; to the taker, just an empty hand.

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