A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao Tzu is the name attached to the author of the Tao Te Ching, the founding text of Taoism, composed in China around the sixth or fourth century BC. Whether he was a historical person or a collection of several authors has been debated for centuries. The book works through paradox and restraint, and opens by warning that what matters most cannot be put into words.
About this theme: Motivation
Motivation is the youngest idea in this collection — it enters use as a psychological term only in the twentieth century. Older writers describe the same thing with a different vocabulary: will, duty, habit. That difference in words hides a difference in assumption. Motivation is understood as a state that comes and goes; habit as something built regardless of the state.
More by Lao Tzu
- Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
- Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
- When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
- A leader is best when people barely know he exists.
More on Motivation
- However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?— Buddha
- Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.— Albert Einstein
- Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve.— Leonardo da Vinci
- It always seems impossible until it's done.— Nelson Mandela
- No one knows what he can do till he tries.— Publilius Syrus