Inspirational Quotes by Zhiming Yuan

“It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure; It is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop; It is easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle; It is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute. Deal with a thing while it is still nothing; Keep a thing in order before disorder sets in. A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms Grows from a downy tip; A terrace nine storeys high Rises from hodfuls of earth; A journey of a thousand miles Starts from beneath one's feet. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; Whoever lays hold of it will lose it. Therefore the sage, because he does nothing, never ruins anything; And, because he does not lay hold of anything, loses nothing. In their enterprises the people Always ruin them when on the verge of success. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning And there will be no ruined enterprises. Therefore the sage desires not to desire And does not value goods which are hard to come by; Learns to be without learning And makes good the mistakes of the multitude In order to help the myriad creatures to be natural and to refrain from daring to act.”

“no fault greater than the wish to be getting.”

“People are mysterious entities – try to take hold of them and you will only lose them.”

“Guidance is creative, efficacy develops, people give shape, implements complete.  That is why all people honor guidance and value efficacy.  The nobility of guidance and the value of efficacy are not granted by anyone, but naturally so of themselves.  Guidance creates, nurtures, develops, matures, brings to fruition, nourishes, sustains, and shelters. It is creative without possessiveness, constructive without conceit, develops without coercion; this is called unobtrusive efficacy.”

“To clarify muddy waters, you must hold them still and let things settle. To glimpse the secret of the Tao, you must keep still and quiet your mind.”

“En el centro de tu ser tienes la respuesta; sabes quién eres y sabes qué quieres”.”

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

“Good people do not quarrel. Quarrelsome people are not good.”

“Where there is lack of faith, There is a lack of respect. Employ reticence, and care with words. When the work is done and the task complete The people will say: ‘It just happened.”

“Only those who do not use life as a reason for artificialities are intelligently valuing life.”

“Here are the four fundamentals of true spirituality: recognize simplicity, cherish purity, reduce your possessions, diminish your desires.”

“Upon disaster depends good fortune; within good fortune hides disaster. Where will it end? For nothing is certain; what is correct goes astray; what is right goes wrong. Our confusion goes on and on.”

“Therefore the wise are sharp but not cutting, Pointed but not piercing, Straightforward but not unrestrained, Brilliant but not blinding.”

“When the world's on the Way, they use horses to haul manure. When the world gets off the Way, they breed warhorses on the common. The greatest evil: wanting more. The worst luck: discontent. Greed's the curse of life. To know enough's enough is enough to know.”

“One gains by losing and loses by gaining.”

“Mold clay into a bowl. The empty space makes it useful.”

“The Legendary Emperor Shun asked one of his Ministers: “Can one Possess the Tao?” “Your own body is not your Possession. How can you Possess the Tao?” “If my own body is not mine, whose is it?” “It is the Form lent you by Heaven and Earth. Your Life is not your Possession. It is a Harmony granted you for a time by Heaven and Earth. Your Life-Destiny is not your Possession. It is a Flow granted you for a time by Heaven and Earth. Your children and grandchildren are not your Possessions. Heaven and Earth have lent them to you to be cast off as an insect sheds its skin. You are the Breath-Energy of Heaven and Earth. How can you ever Possess that?”

“In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

“Knowledge of the eternal is all-embracing. To be all-embracing leads to righteousness, Which is majestic. To be majestic leads to the Heavenly. To be Heavenly leads to the Way.”

“Great power, not clinging to power, has true power. Lesser power, clinging to power, lacks true power. Great power, doing nothing, has nothing to do. Lesser power, doing nothing, has an end in view.”