Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching (Translation by Stehpen Mitchell)

If you like the Bhagavad Gita, you will enjoy reading Tao Te Ching.

Here are some of my highlights.

• Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao. It springs into existence, unconscious, perfect, free, takes on a physical body, lets circumstances complete it. All things end in the Tao as rivers flow into the sea.

• He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm. He who rushes ahead doesn’t go far. He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can’t know who he really is. He who has power over others can’t empower himself. He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures. If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.

• If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand. If you want to get rid of something, you must first allow it to flourish.

• Try to make people happy, and you lay the groundwork for misery. Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice.

• When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority.

• The greatest love seems indifferent, the greatest wisdom seems childish. The Tao is nowhere to be found. Yet it nourishes and completes all things.

• In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped.