Tao Te Ching
Skillful Means
Skillful Means, upaya-kaushalya कौशल्य
Pointedly emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, this concept emphasizes discovering our own, personal best widom-ways in each unique situation rather than relying on external ethics, moralities, and commandments. Applied to Eastern spiritual practices for thousands of years in all cultures, this approach also extends to the politics of ancients like Sun Tzu, European philosophers like Machiavelli and Balthasar Gracian, even to modern Christian approaches like the theologies of people like Kierkegaard, Reinhold Niebuhr, Bonhoeffer, and Paul Tillich.
Quotes (86)
“When it is a man’s fate to undertake new beginnings, everything is still unformed, dark. Therefore he must hold back because any premature move might bring disaster.”
“As surely as bandits hate their chief so do the people of a country resent whatever is over them… (the wise) knowing that a kingdom cannot be mounted get under it; knowing that the people cannot be led he keeps behind them.”
“The highest form of goodness is like water... In making a move, know how to choose he right moment.”
“Never does a sage go ahead of other men, but always follows in their wake.”
“I have shown you the methods that lead to liberation but you should know that liberation depends only upon yourself.”
“Therefore, 100 victories in 100 battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the other’s military without battle is the most skillful.”
“There is small risk a general will be regarded with contempt by those he leads, if, whatever he may have to preach, he shows himself best able to perform.”
“Only a person who can refuse to act in inappropriate situations is capable of acting at appropriate times.”
“Nowadays I see with my whole being not with my eyes. I sense the natural lines, and my knife slides through by itself… I stand there and let the joy of the work fill me.”
“Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and profitable unto them that see the sun.”
“Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth.”
“The difficulty in speaking to a person is not that of knowing what to say but in knowing the mind of the person spoken to and fitting the best approach to it.”
“Too many deals impoverish the merchant, too much artistry exhausts the craftsman. When the span of a tree is great, its height is compromised. When the flow of a river is wide, its depth is compromised. If you have knowledge but not skillful means, you will never accomplish anything.”
“They are free and do nothing, yet there is nothing they do not do… All thing have their outcomes, but only sages know how to keep to the root… they respond like echoes without wearing out.”
“The skillful employer will employ the wise, the brave, the covetous, and the stupid because the wise delight in establishing merit, the brave in showing their courage in action, the covetous in seizing advantages, and the stupid in having no fear of death.”
“If the wrong man uses the right means, the right means work in the wrong way.”
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
“Watch a man in times of adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask is torn off.”
“It is not so much what you are doing as how you are doing it... harmonizing your will with nature should be your utmost ideal.”
“Without a consort, a partner of skillful means, there is no way to experience the mysteries of tantra.”
“How to act like a Buddha? With total abstention from action never letting passion, aggression, ignorance, or belief that things exist or don’t exist influence how you act.”
“So minute it enters where there is no gap, so vast it transcends dimension. A hairsbreadth’s deviation, and you’re out of tune.”
“A good sentence is a stake to which a donkey can be tethered for ten thousand aeons.”
“Like a tightrope walker with perfect balance, journey on the high rope joining skillful means and wisdom.”
“If you throw the six grains in a meadow, there will be no sprouts.
If you plant seeds in a plowed field, then you get results.”
“Knowledge without action is wastefulness and action without knowledge is foolishness.”
“Operating without self they cannot be buried in the cocoon of past conditioning.”
“The reeds blossom under the bright moon; the jade thread fits into the golden needle; the opportunity arises to turn around, enter the world, and respond to conditions.”
“Realize that not a single thing exists and respond unencumbered to each spec of dust without becoming its partner.”
“Only by carefully considering each set of circumstances, and following what’s called for by those circumstances can one act in accord with the appropriate course of action.” 
“There must be knowledge before there can be will. Extensive study must come first, earnest practice last.”
“Like a dream, our actions seem to not be very meaningful or important; but, they bring about all the variety of happiness and suffering.”
“Begin helping sentient beings by first finding their determination to be free.”
“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”
“If we are to achieve things never before accomplished we must employ methods never before attempted.”
“Always act as if others were watching… know that walls have ears and that ill deeds rebound back… know that sooner or later, all will be known.”
“Flattery is more dangerous than hatred... A wise person gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”
“The chief rule of life is to keep a double store of good and useful qualities.”
“Great people, while being very wise, appear to be ignorant; while being very skillful, they appear inept… they cannot be influenced by circumstances… they are not concerned with externals… they find good fortune wherever they are.”
“when you bring bad news, rouse me instantly for then there is not a moment to lose!”
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.”
“You must be sure of two things: you must love your work, and not be always looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin... You must have a pride in your own work and in learning to do it well”
“Freedom does not consist in any dreamt-of independence from natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends.”
“Denunciatory rhetoric is so much easier and cheaper than good works, and proves a popular temptation. Yet is it far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.”
“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.”
“It's a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.”
“The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.”
“in the past as well as in the present, an... increase of skill has not, of itself, insured any increase of human happiness or well-being.”
“The naïve person does not appreciate what an insult it is to talk to one's fellows about anything that is unknown to them. They pardon such ruthless behavior only in a writer, journalist, or poet. I came to see that a new idea, or even just an unusual aspect of an old one, can be communicated only by facts.”
“Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation.”
“No time, no devotion, can be too great, therefore, which makes the vehicle of our message less distorting. We must shape our words till they are the thinnest integument for our thoughts [and] Thoughts are divine.”
“When the heart believes and loves, nothing chimerical exists; nothing exists but courage, trust, and fruitful action.”
“A wise man can learn from other men's experience; a fool cannot learn even from his own.”
“You prefer to use Pavlov for brainwashing, Pavlov for selling cigarettes and vodka and patriotism. Pavlov for the benefit of dictators, generals and tycoons… but Pavlov could be used for good purposes, for friendliness and trust and compassion.”
“Nothing is built on stone; All is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.”
“the distribution of flexibility among the many variables of a system is a matter of very great importance. The healthy system... may be compared to an acrobat on a high wire... he must be free to move from one position of instability to another... If his arms are fixed or paralyzed (isolated from communication), he must fall.”
“Wisdom that is not put into action is without true value; therefore ghanta—which symbolizes awakened wisdom—and vajra—which symbolizes the power to actively realize the means of compassion—must act together.”
“As long as you are conscious of yourself, you can never concentrate on anything.”
“Humor is essential to a successful tactician, for the most potent weapons known to mankind are satire and ridicule.”
“To meet someone who really hurts you is to meet a rare and precious treasure. Hold that person in high esteem, and make full use of the opportunity to eradicate your defects.”
“[in America] They plow fields 100 times larger but live a more meager and deprived existence than the Japanese farmer on two or 3 acres... the ultimate cause for this is the meat-based diet of Americans... this has totally unbalanced American land”
“Please avoid theoretical and philosophical discussions, and focus your questions on matters related to your actual practice.”
“Through skillful means we are able to conserve subtle energy by expressing it carefully in small amounts with pauses... When we express ourselves excessively with excitement... our energy is lost and we feel anxious and depressed... it is best to keep energy contained without expressing it until we get results, until we develop confidence.”
“The secret to success is thinking things through before acting. The cause of failure is thinking things through before acting. Holding this dichotomy is the beginning of ’skillful means.’”
“He subdues what needs to be subdued, he destroys what needs to be destroyed and he cares for whatever needs his care.”
“Just fully being skillful involves total lack of inhibition. We are not afraid to be. We are not afraid to live… like a tiger in the jungle.”
“Rosa Parks triggered the civil rights movement and proved you can be an activist by sitting down.”
“The longer you practice nonviolence…, the more likely you are to do something intelligent”
“Successful organizations, including the Military, have learned that the higher the risk, the more necessary it is to engage everyone's commitment and intelligence.”
“Best self-interest lies in achieving universal well-being… When the goal of self-=interest is seen to be perfectly isomorphic with universal well-being, bad people will do what it takes to get universal well-being.”
“Best self-interest lies in achieving universal well-being… When the goal of self-=interest is seen to be perfectly isomorphic with universal well-being, bad people will do what it takes to get universal well-being.”
“What will you do when you experience your life as being interrupted by undesired circumstances?... How do we act when wee do not get what we want, or when we do not want what we have?... will you implode through fear, anger, or loss of control?”
“You can't solve mysteries through guesswork. You start with what you know, and continue adding in more of what you know, until there is nothing left of what you know. Only then do yo even begin to add logic, reason, and speculation. Guessing is truly a last resort... an admission of failure.”
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