Great Throughts Treasury

"The world is sacred. It can’t be improved. If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it. If you treat it like an object, you’ll lose it... The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle."

"There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition."

"There is no greater disaster than greed."

"This is the nature of the unenlightened mind: the sense organs, which are limited in scope and ability, randomly gather information. This partial information is arranged into judgments, which are based on previous judgments, which are usually based on someone’s else’s foolish ideas. These false concepts and ideas are then stored in a highly selective memory system. Distortion upon distortion: the mental energy flows constantly through contorted and inappropriate channels, and the more one uses the mind, the more confused one becomes."

"Throw away holiness and wisdom and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit, and there won’t be any thieves."

"To be constantly without desire is the way to have a vision of the mystery of heaven and earth, for constantly to have desire is the means by which their limitations are seen."

"To bring forth and preserve, to produce without possessing, to act without hope of reward, and to expand without waste, this is the supreme virtue."

"To eliminate the vexation of the mind, it doesn’t help to do something; this only reinforces the mind’s mechanics. Dissolving the mind is instead a matter of not-doing: simply avoid becoming attached to what you see and think. Relinquish the notion that you are separated from the all-knowing mind of the universe. then you can recover the original pure insight and see through all illusions. Knowing nothing, you will be aware of everything. Remember: because clarity and enlightenment are within your own nature, they are regained without moving an inch."

"Understand that true growth comes from meeting and solving the problems of life in a way that is harmonizing to yourself and to others. If you can follow these simple old ways, you will be continually renewed."

"Truth sounds paradoxical!"

"To know when you have enough is to be rich."

"We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hold that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use."

"Weapons are tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. Peace is the highest value."

"We pierce doors and windows to make a house; and it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends. Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not."

"Unless the mind, body and spirit are equally developed and fully integrated, no [wisdom] can be sustained. This is why extremist religions and ideologies do not bear fruit."

"When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally."

"Would you like to liberate yourself from the lower realms of life? Would you like to save the world from degradation and destruction it seems destined for? Then step away from the shallow mass movements and quietly go to work on your own self-awareness. If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself... Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation."

"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."

"Abide at the center of your being, for the more you leave it, the less you learn. "

"Charity has no label, compassion no religion, wisdom no dogma, empathy no rules. Integrity needs no laws, enlightenment no temples. Living in total harmony with Tao is beyond culture, oneness with Tao beyond philosophy. Emptiness and silence cannot be defined. The Way has no name, for it is Tao."

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. "

"If among thoughts they value those that are profound, if in friendship they value gentleness, in words, truth; in government, good order; timeliness – in each case it is because they prefer what does not lead to strife."

"He who knows he has enough is rich. "

"From above it is not bright; from below it is not dark; an unbroken thread beyond description. It returns to nothingness. "

"If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will hold onto. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve. Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter's place. When you handle the master carpenter's tools chances are that you'll cut your hands. "

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profundity. Kindness in giving creates love."

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

"Nature is not human hearted. "

"See the world as yourself. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self; then you can care for all things. "

"Many Worlds - Many Times. Look, it cannot be seen - it is beyond form. Listen, it cannot be heard -- it is beyond sound. Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible. These three are indefinable; therefore they are joined in one."

"The form of the formless. The image of the imageless. It is called indefinable and beyond imagination. Stand before it and there is no beginning. Follow it and there is no end. Stay with the ancient Tao, move with the present. Knowing the ancient beginning is the essence of Tao."

"There was something formlessly fashioned, that existed before heaven and earth; without sound, without substance, dependent on nothing, unchanging, all-pervading, unfailing. One may think of it as the mother of all things under heaven."

"Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know. "

"Those who know they have enough are rich. "

"To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day. "

"To lead the people, walk behind them. "

"What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly. "

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need."

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. "

"Wise people seek solutions. The ignorant only cast blame."

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. "

"A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar."

"An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. "

"All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small."

"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want. "

"Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. "

"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. "

"Because of a great love, one is courageous."

"For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions. "

"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. "