Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants ar…

Laozi
972 citations
Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.
Death Life
15

More Author Quotes

What is firmly rooted cannot be pulled out ✨ Laozi, D. C. Lau (1989). Tao Te Ching, p.77, Chinese University Press
Nurture the spontaneous peaceful life.
Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.
No thought, no action, no movement, total stillness: only thus can one manifest the true nature and law of things from within and unconsciously, and at last become one with heaven and earth.
Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world.

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes