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Laozi (traditional attribution): Ming-dynasty depiction; not a lifetime portraitMing-dynasty depiction; not a lifetime portraitZhang Lu / National Palace Museum; cropped reproduction · Public domain

246 collected words

Laozi (traditional attribution)

Life dates uncertain

Traditional attribution of the Tao Teh King, a text that invites reflection on action, restraint and the limits of force. Historical identity, authorship and life dates remain uncertain; this profile does not assign a lifespan.

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Life and writing

Laozi, the Old Master of the traditional accounts, is associated with the text also known as the Daodejing or Tao Te Ching. Scholars disagree about the historical identity behind that name and about the text’s date and authorship. A transmitted collection may preserve several stages of formation; its traditional attribution does not establish a single author’s biography.

The archive preserves all 81 complete chapters in James Legge’s historical English translation, including prose and verse within each chapter. Images of water, yielding and restraint can make a short passage memorable, but the full chapter helps readers see the argument and its limits. Legge’s English is one interpretive route into the received text; a modern rendering may make different choices.

Reading this voice

Read a complete chapter slowly and return to its images before turning them into a rule for action. The text’s discussions of rulers and subjects belong to a historical setting, and restraint need not mean accepting harm or avoiding responsibility. Life dates and the archive timeline year remain undated. The linked digitized Legge text does not supply a printed publication year, so the reading record leaves that detail uncertain.

Subjects to explore

wisdompeacenaturemind

Words to begin with

Profile sources and editorial notes

Agent-assisted editorial profile, updated 2026-10-04. A human reviewer is not recorded. Biographical context does not independently authenticate every quotation attributed to this person.

Quotations and sayings

01Undated
1. He whose boldness appears in his daring (to do wrong, in defiance of the laws) is put to death; he whose boldness appears in his not daring (to do so) lives on. Of these two cases the one appears to be advantageous, and the other to be injurious. But When Heaven's anger smites a man, Who the cause shall truly scan? On this account the sage feels a difficulty (as to what to do in the former case). 2. It is the way of Heaven not to strive, and yet it skilfully overcomes; not to speak, and yet it is skilful in obtaining a reply; does not call, and yet men come to it of themselves. Its demonstrations are quiet, and yet its plans are skilful and effective. The meshes of the net of Heaven are large; far apart, but letting nothing escape.
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02Undated
1. The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to) frighten them with death? If the people were always in awe of death, and I could always seize those who do wrong, and put them to death, who would dare to do wrong? 2. There is always One who presides over the infliction of death. He who would inflict death in the room of him who so presides over it may be described as hewing wood instead of a great carpenter. Seldom is it that he who undertakes the hewing, instead of the great carpenter, does not cut his own hands!
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03Undated
1. The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer famine. 2. The people are difficult to govern because of the (excessive) agency of their superiors (in governing them). It is through this that they are difficult to govern. 3. The people make light of dying because of the greatness of their labours in seeking for the means of living. It is this which makes them think light of dying. Thus it is that to leave the subject of living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.
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04Undated
1. Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered. 2. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life. 3. Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms, (and thereby invites the feller.) 4. Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above.
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05Undated
1. May not the Way (or Tao) of Heaven be compared to the (method of) bending a bow? The (part of the bow) which was high is brought low, and what was low is raised up. (So Heaven) diminishes where there is superabundance, and supplements where there is deficiency. 2. It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to supplement deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes away from those who have not enough to add to his own superabundance. 3. Who can take his own superabundance and therewith serve all under heaven? Only he who is in possession of the Tao! 4. Therefore the (ruling) sage acts without claiming the results as his; he achieves his merit and does not rest (arrogantly) in it:—he does not wish to display his superiority.
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06Undated
1. There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it;—for there is nothing (so effectual) for which it can be changed. 2. Every one in the world knows that the soft overcomes the hard, and the weak the strong, but no one is able to carry it out in practice. 3. Therefore a sage has said, 'He who accepts his state's reproach, Is hailed therefore its altars' lord; To him who bears men's direful woes They all the name of King accord.' 4. Words that are strictly true seem to be paradoxical.
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07Undated
1. When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind of the one who was wrong). And how can this be beneficial (to the other)? 2. Therefore (to guard against this), the sage keeps the left-hand portion of the record of the engagement, and does not insist on the (speedy) fulfilment of it by the other party. (So), he who has the attributes (of the Tao) regards (only) the conditions of the engagement, while he who has not those attributes regards only the conditions favourable to himself. 3. In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.
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08Undated
1. In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred men, there should be no employment of them; I would make the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing, yet not remove elsewhere (to avoid it). 2. Though they had boats and carriages, they should have no occasion to ride in them; though they had buff coats and sharp weapons, they should have no occasion to don or use them. 3. I would make the people return to the use of knotted cords (instead of the written characters). 4. They should think their (coarse) food sweet; their (plain) clothes beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest; and their common (simple) ways sources of enjoyment. 5. There should be a neighbouring state within sight, and the voices of the fowls and dogs should be heard all the way from it to us, but I would make the people to old age, even to death, not have any intercourse with it.
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09Undated
1. Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it. 2. The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that he expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more that he gives to others, the more does he have himself. 3. With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not; with all the doing in the way of the sage he does not strive.
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10Undated
If the Principle of the universe could be translated into words or letters, it would not be the principle. If its name could be pronounced, it would not be the Principle’s name. Anyone who has studied the Chuang Tzu book knows perfectly well that the human body vanishes, dissolves like everything else, in the process of change. The further you go the less you know. A good warrior is never violent. Generally speaking, true words are often not welcome, and beautiful words are often not true. Without the concept of “existence” how could we know “emptiness”? I don’t know where it came from, it should be here before the heaven and earth was created. Governing according to the way of nature brings peace instead. Conceit leads do defeat. For the same reason, so-called “humanity” and “morality” restrict people’s true nature. Those people who do not have enough faith will not be able to inspire faith to others. The sage treasures everything; so nothing is wasted. To use the force of arms is something one resorts to only when one has no choice but to show military strength. Winning a war is not a glory.
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11Undated
If you celebrate the victory, it means you delight in the slaughter of people. The person who is satisfied with his present is a wealthy person. The man who declares himself of great wisdom is but a person who may only know the “superficial” Principle of the universe, a fool who likes to cheat himself. Between a person’s fame and his life, which one does the person treasure more? The journey of a thousand miles was began one step at a time. The Sage constantly has no set mind. Those who are good he regards as good and those who are not good he also regards as good. In this way he attains goodness. Those who know don’t talk about it; those who talk don’t know it. Beautiful words can be bought and sold. Great eloquence is silent. To understand others is to be knowledgeable; to understand yourself is to be wise. To know when you have enough is to be rich. To die but not be forgotten – that’s true long life.
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