If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.

不可为也，不可执也。 为 者败之

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

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Topic

Letting go Grasping Attachment

Author

Lao Tzu

Source

Tao Te Ching

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Statement Type

Paradox Zen koan

Language

Chinese

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

China Asia

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 29.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 29.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Lao Tzu about letting go: “If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”
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A quote by Lao Tzu about letting go: “If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”
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A quote by Lao Tzu about letting go: “If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Lao Tzu

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

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Topic
Patience Persistence One step at a time

Author

Lao Tzu
Source
Tao Te Ching
Genre
Philosophical literature Religious literature
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
Chinese
Time
400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC
Authentication Score 0
Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 64.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 64.

Another quote from the 5th century BC

We are lovers of beauty without extravagance, and lovers of wisdom without unmanliness. Wealth is to us is not mere material for vainglory but an opportunity for achievement; and poverty we think it no disgrace to acknowledge but a real degradation to make no effort to overcome.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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More information about this quote
Topic
Golden mean
Speaker
Pericles

Author

Thucydides
Source
Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech Historical literature
Language
Greek
Time
430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Another quote originally in Chinese

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.

Sun Tzu

The Art of War

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Topic
Military strategy

Author

Sun Tzu
Source
The Art of War
Medium
Treatise
Genre
Military treatise
Language
Chinese
Time
490 BC 490s BC 5th century BC
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Sun Tzu. 孫子兵法 [The Art of War]. c. 475 BC, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Sun Tzu. The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life, translated by John Minford. Penguin Classics, 2009, ch. 6.

Another quote of the following type Paradox

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.

Colleen McCullough

The Thorn Birds

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Topic
Bird songs Birds

Author

Colleen McCullough
Source
The Thorn Birds
Medium
Novel
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
English
Time
1977 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

McCullough, Colleen. The Thorn Birds. Harper & Row, 1977, epigraph.