quote · Words worth keeping
Simplicity, patience, compassion.These three are your greatest treasures.Simple in actions and 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."…"There is no greater misfortunethan underestimating your enemy.Underestimating your enemymeans thinking that he is evil.Thus you destroy your three treasuresand become an enemy yourself.When two great forces oppose each other,the victory will goto the one that knows how to yield.
Simplicity, patience, compassion.These three are your greatest treasures.Simple in actions and 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."…"There is no greater misfortunethan underestimating your enemy.Underestimating your enemymeans thinking that he is evil.Thus you destroy your three treasuresand become an enemy yourself.When two great forces oppose each other,the victory will goto the one that knows how to yield.
Historical period not yet established
Meaning not yet available
This entry is preserved in the wider collection, but an individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Browse entries with explanations and examples ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Laozi (traditional attribution)
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided quotation collection
Supplied reference C; CSV row 202636; supplied attribution, independently unverified
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
The voice behind the words.
Traditional attribution of the Tao Teh King, represented here by complete numbered chapters in James Legge’s English translation. Historical identity, authorship and dates are disputed; no lifetime or composition year is assigned. Read within the transmitted text, rather than treating traditional attribution as independent verification.
More from Laozi (traditional attribution) ↗