The exact wording comes from Vernon Howard’s 1967 self-help book The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power (p. 112), where Howard offered it as his own plain-English explanation of Taoist thought — not as a translation of Lao Tzu. It appears nowhere in the Tao Te Ching. The line was later shortened and pinned on Lao Tzu by Susan Hayward’s 1985 A Guide for the Advanced Soul, and spread from there across books and the Internet.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality” Misattributed to Lao Tzu. Actually written by Vernon Howard in The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power (1967) as his own explanation of Taoism; it is not in the Tao Te Ching.
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Lao Tzu. Use the credit shown above instead.
Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool
In context
Evoking the world of Vernon Howard — American spiritual teacher & self-help author. Theme: "Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
The source
Real author
Vernon Howard (1918–1992)
Work
The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power
Publisher
Parker Publishing Company, 1967 (p. 112)
Not from
The Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; don’t wish things were different. That only creates sorrow. Go along. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. Be like a pebble carried effortlessly along the stream of life.
Vernon Howard, 1967
Vernon Howard’s original 1967 passage — his own explanation of Taoism. The popular “Lao Tzu” version trims it to the smoother middle lines.
Stefan Stenudd (Taoistic.com) traces the wording to Vernon Howard’s The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power (1967), where Howard is explaining Taoism in his own words, not quoting Lao Tzu.
Wikiquote places the line in its Misattributed section, noting the origin is unknown and it is not found in the Dao De Jing.
The name “Lao Tzu” was attached later via Susan Hayward’s 1985 anthology A Guide for the Advanced Soul, from which it spread across quote sites and social media.
The wording originates in Vernon Howard’s The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power, first published in 1967 — well after 1931 — so the text is in copyright in the United States. Rights rest with Howard’s estate / the New Life Foundation and the original publisher. (The ancient Tao Te Ching is public domain, but this line is not from it.)
Fact-check
The misattribution
This is one of the Internet’s most-shared “Lao Tzu” quotes — and it isn’t his. The wording is modern, written by a 20th-century self-help author.
Pinned on the ancient Taoist sage across Goodreads, BrainyQuote, and social media, but it appears nowhere in the Tao Te Ching. Wikiquote lists it as Misattributed, noting its origin is not found in the Dao De Jing.
✕
Actually written byVernon Howard (1967) True author
✓The thought echoes Taoism, but the words are Vernon Howard’s — a 1967 paraphrase, not a Lao Tzu text.
Context
How a self-help paraphrase became ‘ancient wisdom’
The passage reads like Taoism — go with the flow, don’t resist change, let reality be reality — which is exactly why it stuck to Lao Tzu so easily. But it was written in plain 1960s American English by Vernon Howard, a prolific self-help author, as his own gloss on Taoist thinking. Howard never claimed to be quoting anyone; he was explaining a philosophy in his own voice.
The jump to “—Lao Tzu” came through a quotation anthology. Susan Hayward’s 1985 A Guide for the Advanced Soul printed a trimmed version with Lao Tzu’s name attached, and from there it multiplied across later books, greeting cards, and social media — a textbook case of an author’s paraphrase hardening into a fake ancient quotation.
Howard wasn’t quoting Lao Tzu — he was explaining Taoism in his own words.
The wording swap between Howard and the ‘Lao Tzu’ version
Howard’s original (1967) is longer and folksier: it adds “don’t wish things were different,” “Go along,” and closes with “Be like a pebble carried effortlessly along the stream of life.”
The popular “Lao Tzu” version drops those lines, keeping the smoother core — the shortening that first appears attributed to Lao Tzu in Hayward’s 1985 anthology.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
1918–1992 · American spiritual teacher & self-help author
Vernon Linwood Howard (1918–1992) was an American author and lecturer on self-awareness and inner life who began writing in the late 1950s and founded the New Life Foundation in 1979. He wrote dozens of popular books drawing loosely on mysticism and Eastern thought; his readership has been estimated in the millions. In The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power he paraphrased Taoist ideas in his own words — one of those passages, not a genuine Lao Tzu text, became the “Lao Tzu” quote seen everywhere today.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Primary source
Vernon Howard, The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power (West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing Company, 1967), 112. Misattribution traced by Stefan Stenudd, “Fake Lao Tzu Quote,” Taoistic.com; also listed as Misattributed on Wikiquote’s Laozi page.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/life-is-a-series-of-natural-and-spontaneous-changes-dont