- Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
- Nature doesn't create a storm that never ends. Within misfortune, good fortune hides.
- The mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding. Lao tzu
- Don't try so hard to make something work...simply allow.
- Become an astute observer...judge less and listen more.
- See the unfolding of the Tao inside everyone, including yourself, and be at peace with what you observe.
- By not displaying what is desirable, you will cause the people's hearts to remain undisturbed. Lao tzu
- Pursuit of status, be it monetary or a position of power, blinds us to our relationship to the external Tao, along with the contented life that is available.
- We must replace personal desires with the Tao-centered question: How may I serve?
- Remind yourself daily that there is no way to happiness; rather, happiness is the way.
- Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my live moves. Nisargadatta Maharaj
- Man was made to sit quietly and find the truth within. Lao-tzu
- If a thought or behavior divides us, it is not of God; if it unites us, it is of God.
- When you're in touch with the energy of your origin, you offer the world your authentic intelligence, talents, and behaviors.
- Whatever you feel within you as your calling -- whatever makes you feel alive -- know in your heart that this excitement is all the evidence you need to have your inner passion become reality.
- Serve the needs of others, and all your own needs will be fulfilled. Through selfless action, fulfillment is attained. Lao tzu
- The main problem with listening to ego is that you're always caught in the trap of striving and never arriving. Thus, you can never feel complete.
- Live in accordance with the nature of things. In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. Stand by your word. Govern with equity. Be timely in choosing the right moment. Lao tzu
- Be receptive to everyone, particularly those who may not routinely receive respect, such as the uneducated, homeless, or troubled members of our society.
- Analysts might tell us that the economy is failing if it isn't continuously growing, but we can realize that excessive growth, like cancer, will ultimately destroy itself.
- Embrace oneness by seeing yourself in everyone you encounter.
- In situations where you're expected to hate an assumed enemy, stop yourself from these judgments and walk an imaginary mile (or two) in their shoes.
- Your imperceptible center is your vital essence.
- You can't arrive at a place of peace and inner satisfaction when your entire existence is motivated by not having enough.
- Discontinue pressuring yourself to perpetually accumulate more.
- No ego means no trouble; big ego equals big trouble.
- What's my own nature if I have no outside forces telling me who or what I should be? Then work at living one day in complete harmony with your own nature, ignoring pressures to be otherwise.
- Improve your vision by looking beyond what your eyes see.
- When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
- When a leader trusts no one, no one trusts him. Lao tzu
- Instead of believing that you know what's best for others, trust that they know what's best for themselves.
- Take pride in refusing to take credit for the achievements of others.
- Love those you're entrusted to lead, just as the sun loves our planet. Simply be there to serve, never demanding anything in return.
- Live without attachment by being generous.
- The less you focus on making a profit -- instead of shifting your energy to living your purpose in harmony with everyone else -- the more money will flow to you and the more opportunities for generosity will be available to you.
- You don't need another thing to be happy; it's all being provided for you right here, right now.
- Have an unquenchable thirst for the intangible and enigmatic force that supports all life.
- How do I know the ways of all things at the beginning? I look inside myself and see what is within me. Lao tzu
- If you have truly attained wholeness, everything will flock to you. Lao tzu
- You must be empty in order to become filled, for attachments keep you so restricted that nothing can enter your already-filled self.
- Change your life by actively observing nature's way.
- Change your life by consciously choosing to be in a state of gratitude.
- Change your life by examining your urge to boast and be self-righteous.
- Note how your gratitude for another truly nurtures your Tao path, not that of your ego.
- To know humanity, understand earth. To know earth, understand heaven. To know heaven, understand the Way. To know the Way, understand the great within yourself. Lao tzu
- Greatness attracts more of its own self to itself, just as thoughts of inadequacy act upon a belief that ensures that deficiency will become your reality.
- Whatever you desire to become or to attract to yourself, make the internal shift from "It probably won't happen for me" to "it's on its way."
- I get what I think about, whether I want it or not.
- I came from greatness. I must be like what I come from. I will never abandon my belief in my greatness and the greatness of others.
- You have the ability to choose calmness in the face of situations that drive others to madness.
- Your origin is more from the Tao than from parents, culture, or country.
- Your inner light is more trustworthy than any guidebook, and it will point you in the direction that's most beneficial to you and everyone you encounter.
- Waste no opportunity, abandon no one, respect the teachers, and care for the student.
- Change the image of yourself to a being who's in accord with eternal power, and the virtuous life you want to see will be visible.
- Entertain the exact opposite of what you've been conditioned to believe.
- Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose. Lao tzu
- All of life is a movement toward perfection, so what need has he for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme? Lao tzu
- Give up needing to control.
- Every use of force, even the smallest, creates a counter force.
- He who thinks triumph beautiful is one with a will to kill, and one with a will to kill shall never prevail upon the world. Lao tzu
- If you change the way you look at your world, you must include noticing your language and demeanor.
- Rivers and streams are born of the ocean, and all creation is born of the Tao. Just as all water flows back to become the ocean, all creation flows back to become the Tao. Lao tzu
- The more you push against it, the more resistance you create.
- One who understands others has knowledge; one who understands himself has wisdom. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self needs strength. Lao tzu
- If you realize you have enough, you are truly rich. Lao tzu
- You don't need the approval of others or another possession in order to be happy -- you must merely understand yourself as a divine piece of the eternal Tao, always connected to that infinite essence.
- Focus on understanding yourself instead of blaming others.
- Catch yourself as you're about to tell others how they "should" be. Use the opportunity to practice allowing them to learn their own lessons without interference from you.
- By not claiming greatness, the sage achieves greatness.
- Discontinue deciding what anyone else should or shouldn't be doing.
- When you look for it, there is nothing to see. When you listen for it, there is nothing to hear. When you use it, it cannot be exhausted. Lao tzu
- Worldly pleasures only seduce you into becoming dependent on them, and they leave you always wanting more.
- Stay under the radar and you'll outlast all who strive to be recognized.
- The pieces of a chariot are useless unless they work in accordance with the whole. A man's life brings nothing unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe. Playing one's part in accordance with the universe is true humility. Lao tzu
- You will die as you live.
- Examine your attachments with the idea that you gain by losing and lose by gaining.
- Teaching without words, performing without actions -- few in the world can grasp it -- that is the master's way. Lao tzu
- When you give of yourself, asking nothing in return and withdrawing your need for recognition, you'll experience more contentment.
- Your primary relationship needs to be with yourself, not your family, business, country, culture, or ethnicity.
- You can take the sunshine and bask in it, or you can burn yourself to a crisp.
- I am in love with every church, and mosque, and temple, and any kind of shrine. Because I know it is there that people say the different names of the One God. Hafiz
- The farther one goes, the less one knows. Lao tzu
- You must allow yourself to be guided by the same Source that twirls the planets around the sun, and trust that it will direct you perfectly without your having to interfere.
- Pick something that has some particular value to you and give it away. It's important that it be something you really like, for the more attachment you have to an item, the greater joy you'll feel as you let it go.
- While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die. Da Vinci
- Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Helen Keller
- Don't attempt to control anyone; instead, foster growth without dominating or ruling.
- Seeing the smallest mystery reveals the grandest mystery.
- In each, I see the face of Christ in one of his more distressing disguises. Mother Theresa
- Behave beneficently toward the neighbor that is a kinsman and the neighbor that is a stranger and the companion by your side. He who behaves ill toward his neighbor is not a believer, nor can ever be one. One who eats his fill while his neighbor is hungry by his side is not a believer. the Prophet Mohammed
- Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
- Even if no one sees or acknowledges it, an act of unkindness contains energy that impacts our entire universe.
- Silence is your evidence of inner knowing. Talking to convince others actually says more about your need to be right than their need to hear what you have to say!
- In this world, the greater the restrictions and prohibitions, the more people are impoverished; the more advanced the weapons of state, the darker the nation; the more artful and crafty the plan, the stranger the outcome; the more laws are posted, the more thieves appear. Lao tzu
- If a man knows no limits, he is fit to lead. Lao tzu
- See yourself as a being who gives rather than collects, and live on what you need rather than practicing conspicuous consumption.
- If only the ruler and his people would refrain from harming each other, all the benefits of life would accumulate in the kingdom. Lao tzu
- Look at the ocean: It's the most powerful force on the planet because it stays lower than the streams, which are necessarily and inescapably drawn to it.
- Emulate those whose greatest impact on humanity used the least violent methods.
- 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. Lao tzu
- Practice forgiving, and avoiding judgment, when you see reprehensible or evil-minded ways.
- The sage always confronts difficulties, he never experiences them. Lao tzu
- Practice keeping your life simple and non complicated.
- Never assume that you know whats best.
- See yourself as someone who's on this planet to assist others. Look for opportunities to be of aid, particularly to those who need your leadership.
- I have three treasures which I hold fast and watch closely. The first is mercy. The second is frugality. The third is humility. From mercy comes courage. From frugality comes generosity. From humility comes leadership. Lao tzu
- What you fight weakens you; what you cooperate with strengthens you.
- Practice seeing yourself in everyone else.
- When two opponents meet, the one without an enemy will surely triumph. Lao tzu
- If war ever does become inevitable, one should practice defense rather than offense.
- To think a sick thought is to allow sickness to crop up.
- Pain is a natural phenomenon, but suffering is a choice. Sai Baba
- Live the mystery by beginning to perceive what average eyes fail to notice.
- Rather than attempting to control others by speaking frequently and loudly, allow yourself to become an active listener. Many of the answers you seek from others will surface if you can remember not to speak or even ask.
- For you are each wondrous indeed, yet no one more wondrous than another. Neale Donald Walsch
- Rather than demanding more because you're older, bigger, richer, or more powerful, leave those you're in charge of alone whenever feasible, trusting in their inherent wisdom to do the right thing.
- Demand less and encourage more as much as you can, allowing them to pursue their own excellence and happiness. Your trust will lead to their trusting themselves and the wisdom that created them.
- The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail. Lao tzu
- If leaders on both sides of any matter were willing to at least listen to each other, conflicts wouldn't need to escalate to life-and-death proportions. By listening, yielding, and being gentle, we all become disciples of life.
- The master can keep giving because there is no end to his wealth. He acts without expectation, succeeds without taking credit, and does not think that he is better than anyone else. Lao tzu
- Remember that no storm lasts forever, and that hidden within are always seeds of tranquility. There is a time for hostility and a time for peace.
- Paradise is where I am. Voltaire
- Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, canceled, made nothing? Are you willing to be made nothing? dipped into oblivion? If not, you will never really change.
- The sage does not hoard, and thereby bestows. The more he lives for others, the greater his life. The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance. Lao tzu
If the number of quotes are any indication, i really enjoyed this book. Give it a read.
