Inspirational Quotes by Zhiming Yuan

“Look for it, and it can’t be seen. Listen for it, and it can’t be heard. Grasp for it, and it can’t be caught. These three cannot be further described, so we treat them as The One. It’s highest is not bright. It’s depths are not dark. Unending, unnameable, it returns to nothingness. Formless forms, and image less images, subtle, beyond all understanding. Approach it and you will not see a beginning; follow it and there will be no end. You can't know it, but you can be it, at ease in your own life. Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of wisdom.”

“Scholarly translations of the Tao Te Ching as a manual for rulers use a vocabulary that emphasizes the uniqueness of the Taoist “sage,” his masculinity, his authority. This language is perpetuated, and degraded, in most popular versions. I wanted a Book of the Way accessible to a present-day, unwise, unpowerful, and perhaps unmale reader, not seeking esoteric secrets, but listening for a voice that speaks to the soul. I would like that reader to see why people have loved the book for twenty-five hundred years.”

“If a country is governed with tolerance, the people are comfortable and honest. If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty.”

“If you don't realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king”

“When the people are too foolish to recognize danger, disaster will surely come.”

“Attain complete emptiness, Hold fast to stillness. Understanding the ordinary: Mind opens. Mind opening leads to compassion, Compassion to nobility, Nobility to heavenliness, Heavenliness to TAO. TAO endures. Your body dies. There is no danger.”

“If you follow the Tao, you will understand where to stop. Knowing where to stop, you will be free from danger.”

“True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way.”

“Thus the Master is available to all people and doesn’t reject anyone. He is ready to use all situations and doesn’t waste anything. This is called embodying the light. What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher? What is a bad man but a good man’s job? If you don’t understand this, you will get lost, however intelligent you are. It is the great secret.”

“There is no greater misfortune than not knowing what is enough. There is no greater fault than the desire to possess.”

“Those who understand the way do not talk about it, and those who talk about the way do not understand it. Therefore the wise person: Closes his mouth, locks his gates, tempers his sharpness, simplifies his problems, softens his glare. Unite yourself with the low – this is the profound harmony. Where there is no attachment, there is liberation from aversion. Where there is no profit, there is liberation from loss. Where there is no honour, there is liberation from disgrace. Therefore this is the most cherished way on earth.”

“Great talents mature slowly.”

“HUMILITY The universe is eternal, and earth is lasting. The reason they are eternal and lasting is that they do not exist for themselves. That is why they endure. The wise humble themselves— and because of their humility, they are worthy of praise. They put others first, and so become great. They are not focused on outcomes or achievements; therefore they always succeed.”

“A man is born into certain relationships and as a result has certain duties. For instance, he has a duty of loyalty to his lord, a filial duty to his parents, a duty to help his friends, and a duty of common humanity towards his fellow beings.”

“The wise person treats the good person with goodness, he also treats the bad person with goodness – this is how you become good. The wise person gives the truthful person his trust, he also gives the untruthful his trust – this is how you become trustworthy.”

“A man can achieve his own happiness only by pursuing the happiness of others, because it is only by forgetting about his own happiness that he can become happy.”

“Having replaced instinct with language, society, and culture, we are the only species that depends on teaching and learning. We aren’t human without them. In them is true power. But are they the occupations of the rich and mighty?”

“To want to rule the world is to want to pamper this body. When you don’t prize this body, you don’t want to rule the world.”

“Before the birth of all things, there existed an undifferentiated whole. A solitary void:  unchanging, yet operating everywhere, without exhaustion. It is therefore considered the source of everything. I do not know its true name, although some call it Tao. If compelled to characterize it, I would simply call it great. For to be great implies that it is far-reaching, to be far-reaching implies distance, and to be distant implies returning to the source. Thus the Tao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, the wise person is also great. In the universe there are four great ones, and the wise person is one of them. The wise person follows the laws of Earth, Earth follows the laws of Heaven, and Heaven follows the law of Tao. The Tao, with nothing to follow, is natural unto itself.”

“GOODNESS True goodness is like water; it nurtures everything and harms nothing. Like water, it ever seeks the lowest place, the place that all others avoid. This is the way of the Tao. For a dwelling it chooses the quiet meadow; for a heart the circling eddy. In generosity it is kind; in speech it is sincere; in power it is order; in action it is gentle; in movement it is rhythm. Because it is always peaceable, it soothes and refreshes.”