Authors / Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu quotes

6th c. BC (traditional) · Legendary Chinese sage, author of the Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu may be a real person, a composite, or a legend; the Tao Te Ching is his only text. Translations differ wildly, so we cite the chapter and the translation.

3 real · 2 not theirs

Really theirs

3 quotes traced to Lao Tzu's own work or a reliable witness.

Sourced
The journey of a thousand li commences with a single step.

A li is about half a kilometre — "a thousand miles" is a later rounding.

Source: Tao Te Ching, ch. 64, tr. James Legge
Sourced
He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.
Source: Tao Te Ching, ch. 33, tr. James Legge
Sourced
Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
Source: Tao Te Ching, ch. 56 (common rendering)

Not theirs

2 famous lines credited to Lao Tzu that are misquoted, unsourced or belong to someone else.

Not theirs
Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions.

Actually: Quote Investigator traces it to Frank Outlaw, a US supermarket executive, in 1977.

No source found
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

The trail: No such line in any translation of the Tao Te Ching.