10 Life-Transforming Themes & 25 Top Quotes from “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu (Book Summary)

I absolutely loved Tao Te Ching (pronounced Dow Deh Jing). Easily one of the wisest books I’ve ever read.

“It’s wonderful to discover that there is such a thing as a manual on the art of living, a book as profound as this, and as down-to-earth, that can point you in the right direction. But it’s one thing to read about being in harmony with the Tao, or even to understand what that means, and quite another to actually live it.” — Stephen Mitchell

If you like this post, you may also enjoy:

• Zen Stages of Enlightenment: The Ten Bulls or Ten Oxherding Pictures (Short Story)
• On Enlightenment: 3 Meanings of the “Chop Wood, Carry Water” Zen Quote

Some quick housekeeping about this post:

• This summary is based on the Stephen Mitchell New English Version. Over time, I will also be comparing my favorite Tao Te Ching passages to other translations/versions and update this post. You can read a variety of Tao Te Ching translations online for free here and here.
• It’s not quite possible for a book summary to do the Tao Te Ching justice. So, I’ve tried to group my favorite passages by key themes.
• I’ve taken the passages and turned them into sentences instead of the line breaks in the book. This helps me group them by theme and helps shorten the length of this page.
• For each passage, normal text is directly from the book; the chapter is marked by a number at the end in parentheses (X). When you see gray italics, these are notes from the author, Stephen Mitchell, that he included at the end of the book to help with understanding.

A Quick Intro to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

“The greatest help is wholeheartedly trusting people to resolve their own problems. A true philanthropist, like a good parent, brings people to the point where they can help themselves.” — Stephen Mitchell

About Stephen Mitchell:

• Stephen Mitchell was born in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and “de-educated through intensive Zen practice.”
• He discovered the Tao Te Ching shortly before he began Zen training in 1973 (30 years old). His old Zen master taught him about Don’t-know mind: “the empty, luminous, infinitely open mind of realization.”
• Mitchell believes he was simply writing a book that he always wanted to read: “The feeling was one of deep connectedness, of knowing exactly what to do, beyond any conscious intention.”

About Lao-tzu (also spelled Lao Tzu and Laozi):

• “He may have been an older contemporary of Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.) and may have held the position of archive-keeper in one of the petty kingdoms of the time.”
• “Tao Te Ching…can be translated as The Book of the Immanence of the Way or The Book of the Way and of How It Manifests Itself in the World or, simply, The Book of the Way.”
• “It’s clear from his teachings that he deeply cared about society, if society means the welfare of one’s fellow human beings.”
• “Lao-tzu’s central figure is a man or woman whose life is in perfect harmony with the way things are…The Master has mastered Nature; not in the sense of conquering it, but of becoming it…She finds deep in her own experience the central truths of the art of living, which are paradoxical only on the surface: that the more truly solitary we are, the more compassionate we can be; the more we let go of what we love, the more present our love becomes; the clearer our insight into what is beyond good and evil, the more we can embody the good.”
• “The reader will notice that in the many passages where Lao-tzu describes the Master, I have used the pronoun ‘she’ at least as often as ‘he.’ The Chinese language doesn’t make this kind of distinction; in English we have to choose. But, since we are all, potentially, the Master (since the Master is, essentially, us), I felt it would be untrue to present a male archetype, as other versions have, ironically, done. Ironically, because of all the great world religions the teaching of Lao-tzu is by far the most female. Of course, you should feel free, throughout the book, to substitute ‘he’ for ‘she’ or vice versa.”
• “If I haven’t always translated Lao-tzu’s words, my intention has always been to translate his mind.”

Impactful Ways to Remember Key Themes:

• Light through a dirty window (when you’re self-absorbed): “The teaching of the Tao Te Ching is moral in the deepest sense. Unencumbered by any concept of sin, the Master doesn’t see evil as a force to resist, but simply as an opaqueness, a state of self-absorption which is in disharmony with the universal process, so that, as with a dirty window, the light can’t shine through.”
• Mirror reflecting (for an open mind): “The mind is originally empty, and only when it remains empty, without grasping or rejecting, can it respond to natural things, without prejudice…A mirror will reflect all things perfectly, whether they are beautiful or ugly; it never refuses to show a thing, nor does it retain the thing after it is gone. The mind should be as open as this.” — Lin Ching-hsi
• Finger pointing at the moon (the teacher/book is just a device pointing to the path): “(Spiritual teachers’) words are (in the traditional Buddhist metaphor) fingers pointing at the moon; if you watch the finger, you can’t see the moon.”

25 Life-Transforming Tao Te Ching Quotes & Passages

Before we get into the 10 themes, here are my favorite chapters and passages from my first reading of the Tao Te Ching.

My favorite full chapters during my first reading were: 10, 19, 22, 29, 33, 37, 47, 48, 50, 63, 65, 67, 70, 71, 81.

Here are my 25 favorite quotes / passages:

1. Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it and there is 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. (14)
2. Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself. (22)
3. If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, give everything up. (22)
4. The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die, and he has nothing left to hold on to: no illusions in his mind, no resistances in his body. He doesn’t think about his actions; they flow from the core of his being. He holds nothing back from life; therefore he is ready for death, as a man is ready for sleep after a good day’s work. (50)
5. Thus the Master travels all day without leaving home. However splendid the views, she stays serenely in herself. (26)
6. Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course. He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning. He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose. What he desires is non-desire; what he learns is to unlearn. He simply reminds people of who they have always been. He cares about nothing but the Tao. Thus he can care for all things. (64)
7. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. (1)
8. The Master’s power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed. He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old. (55)
9. Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? (10)
10. Stop thinking, and end your problems. (20)
11. The ancient Masters didn’t try to educate the people, but kindly taught them to not-know. (65)
12. Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health. (71)
13. The more you know, the less you understand. (47)
14. The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done. (37)
15. The Master does nothing, yet he leaves nothing undone. The ordinary man is always doing things, yet many more are left to be done. (38)
16. The Master arrives without leaving, sees the light without looking, achieves without doing a thing. (47)
17. In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. (48)
18. Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue. (10)
19. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. (33)
20. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. (44)
21. The simplest pattern is the clearest. Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature. (65)
22. I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world. (67)
23. True words seem paradoxical. (78)
24. Do you want to improve the world? I don’t think it can be done. The world is sacred. It can’t be improved. If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it. If you treat it like an object, you’ll lose it. (29)
25. The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long. (41)

10 Life-Transforming Themes from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

“The truth is right before our eyes; right under our noses; so simple that every child understands it; and yet, as Bankei said, the farther you enter into it, the deeper it is. Where is the way to the Way? What a question!” — Stephen Mitchell

• There is something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao. (25)
• Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it and there is 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. (14)
• The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man’s treasure, the bad man’s refuge. (62)
• It is always present within you. You can use it any way you want. (6)
• The Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities. (4)
• The Tao nourishes by not forcing. By not dominating, the Master leads. (81)
• Why did the ancient Masters esteem the Tao? Because, being one with the Tao, when you seek, you find; and when you make a mistake, you are forgiven. (62)
• All things are born of being. Being is born of non-being. (40)
• Seeing into darkness is clarity. Knowing how to yield is strength. Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity. (52)
• Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity. (16)
• All things end in the Tao as rivers flow into the sea. (32)
• The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Man is great. These are the four great powers. Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself. (25)

• As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow. The top is bent downward; the bottom is bent up. It adjusts excess and deficiency so that there is perfect balance. It takes from what is too much and gives to what isn’t enough. (77)
• The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao. (53)
• The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle. (29)
• Just stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course. (19)
• When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance. (13)
• She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes, without danger. She perceives the universal harmony, even amid great pain, because she has found peace in her heart. (34)
• If powerful men and women could remain centered in the Tao, all things would be in harmony. The world would become a paradise. All people would be at peace, and the law would be written in their hearts. (32)
• If powerful men and women could center themselves in it, the whole world would be transformed by itself, in its natural rhythms. People would be content with their simple, everyday lives, in harmony, and free of desire. (37)
• If you stay in the center and embrace death with your whole heart, you will endure forever. (33)

• Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself. (22)
• Let the Tao be present in your life and you will become genuine. (54)
• The Master views the parts with compassion, because he understands the whole. His constant practice is humility. He doesn’t glitter like a jewel but lets himself be shaped by the Tao, as rugged and common as a stone. (39) (“As a piece of marble lets itself be shaped by the sculptor, so that the statue inside can be revealed. Hammer and chisel are necessary agents. Ouch.”)
• Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity. (56)
• He who defines himself can’t know who he really is. (24)
• Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. (33) (“When I know myself, I know others. When I master myself, I don’t need to master others.”)
• Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled. (7)
• What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear? Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear? (13)
• If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, give everything up. (22)
• If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you aren’t afraid of dying, there is nothing you can’t achieve. (74)
• The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die, and he has nothing left to hold on to: no illusions in his mind, no resistances in his body. He doesn’t think about his actions; they flow from the core of his being. He holds nothing back from life; therefore he is ready for death, as a man is ready for sleep after a good day’s work. (50)

• Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond is and is not. How do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see. (21)
• Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe. (42)
• Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light? (10)
• The Master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky. (12)
• Therefore the Master concerns himself with the depths and not the surface, with the fruit and not the flower. He has no will of his own. He dwells in reality, and lets all illusions go. (38)
• Thus the Master travels all day without leaving home. However splendid the views, she stays serenely in herself. (26)
• A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. (27)
• Some say that my teaching is nonsense. Others call it lofty but impractical. But to those who have looked inside themselves, this nonsense makes perfect sense. And to those who put it into practice, this loftiness has roots that go deep. (67)
• If you want to know me, look inside your heart. (70)
• How do I know this is true? By looking inside myself. (54)

• Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course. He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning. He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose. What he desires is non-desire; what he learns is to unlearn. He simply reminds people of who they have always been. He cares about nothing but the Tao. Thus he can care for all things. (64)
• The Master’s power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed. He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old. (55)
• The master doesn’t seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, she is present, and can welcome all things. (15)
• Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. (1) (“Infinitely marvelous, yet as ordinary as sunlight.”)
• I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes common as grass. (57)
• When there is no desire, all things are at peace. (37)
• Peace is his highest value. If the peace has been shattered, how can he be content? (31)

• Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness? (10)
• Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? (10)
• The more you know, the less you understand. (47)
• Stop thinking, and end your problems. (20)
• Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don’t know. (56)
• My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice. Yet your intellect will never grasp them, and if you try to practice them, you’ll fail. (70)
• When they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guide. When they know that they don’t know, people can find their own way. (65)
• Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health. (71)
• The Master is her own physician. She has healed herself of all knowing. Thus she is truly whole. (71)
• The ancient Masters didn’t try to educate the people, but kindly taught them to not-know. (65) (“The ancient Masters taught them the supreme value of Don’t-know Mind, which is forever fresh, open, and fertile with possibilities. Another name for it is Beginner’s Mind.”)
• The Master leads by emptying people’s minds and filling their cores, by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve. (3) (“Their innermost intention. They develop enough self-reliance to give up the idea of self.”)
• He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire, and creates confusion in those who think that they know. (3)
• Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding. (1) (“In order to understand, we have to remain in the darkness of not-knowing.”)
• 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. (27)

Non-action is often a big misperception. Here’s an explanation from Stephen Mitchell in gray italics before the supporting passages:

• “The misperception may arise from his insistence on wei wu wei, literally ‘doing not-doing,’ which has been seen as passivity. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
• “Nothing is done because the doer has wholeheartedly vanished into the deed; the fuel has been completely transformed into flame. This ‘nothing’ is, in fact, everything. It happens when we trust in the intelligence of the universe in the same way that an athlete or a dancer trusts the superior intelligence of the body.”
• “This is a paradigm for non-action: the purest and most effective form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance.”
• The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done. (37)
• The Master does nothing, yet he leaves nothing undone. The ordinary man is always doing things, yet many more are left to be done. (38)
• The Master arrives without leaving, sees the light without looking, achieves without doing a thing. (47)
• In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. (48)
• Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. (2) (“Her actions are appropriate responses. Thus they are effortless…She never has to make a decision; decisions arise by themselves. She is like an actress who loves her role. The Tao is writing the script.”)
• Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place. (3)
• Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself? (15)
• The gentlest thing in the world overcomes the hardest thing in the world. That which has no substance enters where there is no space. This shows the value of non-action. (43)
• True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can’t be gained by interfering. (48)
• Act without doing; work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many. Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. (63)
• The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. (7) (“She is like a turtle: wherever she is, is home. Actually, she is neither behind nor ahead, but exactly even with all things.”)

• Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue. (10)
• Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn’t possess, acts but doesn’t expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever. (2)
• He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures. (24)
• Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. (9)
• She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. (7)
• The mark of a moderate man is freedom from his own ideas. (59)
• The Master never reaches for the great; thus she achieves greatness. When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it. She doesn’t cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her. (63)

• The Master has no possessions. The more he does for others, the happier he is. The more he gives to others, the wealthier he is. (81)
• If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. (33)
• Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. (44)
• The simplest pattern is the clearest. Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature. (65)
• I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world. (67)

• True words seem paradoxical. (78) (Only when the mind is cluttered with untruth.)
• True words aren’t eloquent; eloquent words aren’t true. Wise men don’t need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren’t wise. (81)
• When man interferes with the Tao, the sky becomes filthy, the earth becomes depleted, the equilibrium crumbles, creatures become extinct. (39)
• Do you want to improve the world? I don’t think it can be done. The world is sacred. It can’t be improved. If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it. If you treat it like an object, you’ll lose it. (29)
• When the great Tao is forgotten, goodness and piety appear. When the body’s intelligence declines, cleverness and knowledge step forth. (18) (“When the Tao is forgotten, people act according to rules, not from the heart.”)
• When the Tao is lost, there is goodness. When goodness is lost, there is morality. When morality is lost, there is ritual. Ritual is the husk of true faith, the beginning of chaos. (38) (“You can never lose the Tao. But you can find it.”)
• When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority. (72)
• Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself. (60)
• Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit, and there won’t be any thieves. (19)
• In dwelling, live close to the ground. 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. (8)
• The heavy is the root of the light. The unmoved is the source of all movement. (26)
• We work with being, but non-being is what we use. (11)
• The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long. (41)
• The soft overcomes the hard. The slow overcomes the fast. Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results. (36)
• True perfection seems imperfect, yet it is perfectly itself. True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present. (45)
• All of them embody the virtue of non-competition. Not that they don’t love to compete, but they do it in the spirit of play. In this they are like children and in harmony with the Tao. (68)
• Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. (76)
• The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet. (64)

Bonus: Additional Memorable Quotes Stephen Mitchell Included

• “No thinking, no mind. No mind, no problem.” — Zen Master Seung Sahn
• “After enlightenment one is still the same as one was before. One is simply free from unreality and delusion. The ordinary person’s mind is the same as the sage’s, because Original Mind is perfect and complete in itself. After you have had this recognition, please don’t lose it.” — Pai-chang
• “Today means boundless and inexhaustible eternity. Months and years and all periods of time are concepts of men, who gauge everything by number; but the true name of eternity is Today.” — Philo
• “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” — Blake
• “There is no greater mystery than this, that we keep seeking reality though in fact we are reality. We think that there is something hiding our reality and that this must be destroyed before reality is gained. How ridiculous! A day will dawn when you will laugh at your past efforts. That which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.” — Ramana Maharshi
• “The scientist’s religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, in comparison with it, all the systematic thinking of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work.” — Einstein
• “Aversion is the flip side of greed, the same desire from a different direction.” — Stephen Mitchell paraphrasing Vicki Chang

What’s your favorite passage or chapter of the Tao Te Ching? Please let me know in the comments.

You May Also Enjoy:

• On Enlightenment: 3 Meanings of the “Chop Wood, Carry Water” Zen Quote
• Zen Stages of Enlightenment: The Ten Bulls or Ten Oxherding Pictures (Short Story)
• Mindful at Mealtime: The Zen Buddhism Five Reflections