Laozi

1. The highest good is like water. Water benefits the myriad things and does not contend; it dwells in places the multitude dislike — therefore it is close to the Way.

2. One who knows others is wise; one who knows oneself is enlightened. One who conquers others has strength; one who conquers oneself is truly strong. One who knows contentment is rich; one who persists has will.

3. A tree that fills the arms' embrace grows from a tiny shoot; a nine-story tower rises from a heap of earth; a journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet.

4. Difficult affairs under Heaven must arise from the easy; great affairs under Heaven must arise from the small.

5. Humans model themselves on earth; earth on heaven; heaven on the Way; and the Way on what is naturally so.

All quotations by Laozi

1. My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognizes them as nonsensical…He must surmount these propositions; then he sees the world rightly.

2. The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.

3. What is rational is actual; and what is actual is rational.

4. To be great is to be misunderstood.

5. I shall endeavor not to laugh at human actions, nor to weep over them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.

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