#dao

To know what is first and what is last will lead near to the Way.

All men know the usefulness of the useful, but nobody knows the usefulness of the useless.

Those who follow the Dao turn away from self-interest and look to the source of all things.

Great music has the fewest notes; great form is without shape; the Dao hides in nameless stillness.

Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are.

The sage walks through fire and is not burned, scales the heights and does not tremble, enters the deep and does not drown.

Is there anything upon which the truly free man depends? He relies solely on the boundless Dao.

Sitting in forgetfulness (Zuowang): I slough off my limbs, dismiss my intellect, and merge with the Great Pervader.

The Dao cannot be heard; what is heard is not the Dao. The Dao cannot be seen; what is seen is not the Dao.

Where is the Dao? There is nowhere it is not. It is in the ant, in the weed, in the broken tile.

Do not seek to be unique; do not seek to be ordinary. Be simply what the Dao manifests through you.

When you hide a boat in a valley, a strong man can still steal it in the night. But if you hide the universe in the universe, where could it be taken?

The sound of silence in the bamboo grove is the Dao whispering directly to the heart.

When you look upon all beings with the eyes of the Dao, there is neither high nor low, neither precious nor vile.

The ultimate joy is to have no joy of the worldly sort; the ultimate praise is to have no praise.