Tao Quotes on
Prevention and patience
Authentic Quotes from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Here are quotes from the Tao Te Ching, the Taoist classic by Lao Tzu, about prevention and patience. To see the whole quoted chapter, click the chapter link within brackets.
Prevention
Moderation means prevention. Prevention means achieving much virtue.
Meet the difficult while it is easy.
Meet the big while it is small.
The most difficult in the world must be easy in its beginning.
The biggest in the world is small in its beginning.
The brittle is easy to shatter.
The small is easy to scatter.
What has not yet emerged is easy to prevent.
Solve it before it happens. Order it before chaos emerges.
A tree as wide as a man’s embrace grows from a tiny shoot.
A tower of nine stories starts with a pile of dirt.
A climb of eight hundred feet starts where the foot stands.
Patience
Who can wait in stillness while the mud settles?
Who can rest until the moment of action?
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Tao Quote Categories
Here are the 388 Tao quotes extracted from the Tao Te ching by Lao Tzu, sorted into 19 topics. Each Tao quote has a link to its chapter in the book.
My Taoism Books:
The Taoism of Lao Tzu Explained. The great Taoist philosophy classic by Lao Tzu translated, and each of the 81 chapters extensively commented.
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The Ancient Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. 389 quotes from the foremost Taoist classic, divided into 51 prominent topics.
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Erroneous Tao Te Ching Citations Examined. 90 of the most spread false Lao Tzu quotes, why they are false and where they are really from.
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The Greek philosophers and what they thought about cosmology, myth, and the gods.
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Qi, prana, spirit, ruach, pneuma, and many other life forces around the world explained and compared.
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About me
I'm a Swedish author and aikido instructor. In addition to fiction, I've written books about Taoism and other East Asian traditions. I'm also an historian of ideas, researching ancient thought and mythology. Click the image to get to my personal website.
Tao Te Ching
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Stefan Stenudd