In plain words
Water is soft and patient and flows around anything. Be like water.
Where these words come from
- 90% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Tao Te Ching, ch. 8, Legge translation, 1891, opening sentence.
- Tao Te Ching
- 6th century BCE (traditional) · China · chapter 8, on water as a model of virtue
More from Lao Tzu
See allNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Lao TzuA violent wind does not outlast the morning; a squall of rain does not outlast the day. Such is the course of Nature.Lao TzuHe who devotes himself to learning seeks from day to day to increase his knowledge.Lao TzuA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.Lao TzuTo those who are good, I am good; and to those who are not good, I am also good; and thus all get to be good.Lao TzuHe who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.Lao Tzu
Lao TzuA violent wind does not outlast the morning; a squall of rain does not outlast the day. Such is the course of Nature.Lao TzuHe who devotes himself to learning seeks from day to day to increase his knowledge.Lao TzuA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.Lao TzuTo those who are good, I am good; and to those who are not good, I am also good; and thus all get to be good.Lao TzuHe who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.Lao TzuMore on nature
Clouds come floating into my life from other days no longer to shed rain or usher storm but to give colour to my sunset sky.
Rabindranath TagoreThe creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo EmersonAll art is but imitation of nature.
SenecaIn wildness is the preservation of the world.
Henry David ThoreauIn every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
John MuirChange your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.
Victor Hugo
Rabindranath TagoreThe creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.Ralph Waldo EmersonAll art is but imitation of nature.SenecaIn wildness is the preservation of the world.Henry David ThoreauIn every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.John MuirChange your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.Victor Hugo