# The most famous lines of the Tao Te Ching

The lines from Laozi's Tao Te Ching that are most widely quoted to this day, with the chapter each comes from.

- 4 votes · 14 items
- Mar 9, 2019 · backpacker_kowloon
- https://even.best/en/l/2098/the-most-famous-lines-of-the-tao-te-ching

## Top 13

1. **The highest good is like water: water benefits all things and does not compete.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Chapter 8.
2. **A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Chapter 64.
3. **He who conquers others has strength; he who conquers himself is mighty.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Chapter 33.
4. **The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 1, the opening of the book.
5. **He who knows he has enough is rich.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 33.
6. **The great vessel is completed late; the great sound is faint; the great image has no form.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 41.
7. **Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 60.
8. **True words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not true.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 81.
9. **Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 56.
10. **A tree that fills a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot; a nine-storey tower rises from a heap of earth.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 64.
11. **The soft and weak overcome the hard and strong.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 36.
12. **The difficult things of the world must be done while they are easy; the great things must be done while they are small.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 63.
13. **Misfortune is what good fortune leans on; good fortune is where misfortune hides.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Chapter 58.
14. **He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Chapter 33.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.