“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small”: did Laozi say it?
Genuine: chapter 63
Yes: “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small” is chapter 63 of the Dao De Jing, 图难于其易，为大于其细, nearly word for word.
Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.
What the Dao De Jing says
-
图难于其易，为大于其细；
Plan the difficult while it is easy; do the great while it is small.
-
天下难事必作于易，
The difficult things of the world always start out easy;
-
天下大事必作于细。
the great things of the world always start out small.
-
夫轻诺必寡信，
Light promises always earn little trust;
-
多易而必多难。
taking much as easy always brings much difficulty.
-
是以圣人犹难之，
So the sage treats things as difficult,
-
故终无难矣。
and so in the end has no difficulty.
What the Chinese says
图难于其易: “plan the difficult at its easy point”. 为大于其细: “do the great at its minute point”. Our translation: “Plan the difficult while it is easy; do the great while it is small.” The saying follows the Chinese closely; its one change is “do” for 图, which is to plan or to tackle in advance.
Where the wording comes from
We found no translation with this exact sentence. It is close to James Legge (1891): “(The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy, and does things that would become great while they are small.” Quote sites often add “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step”, which is chapter 64, as if the two were one passage; they are neighbouring chapters on the same idea.
The line in its chapter
The chapter gives the reason at once: “The difficult things of the world always start out easy; the great things of the world always start out small.” Then the paradox: “So the sage never does anything great, and so he can achieve greatness.” Chapter 64 goes on with the tree that grows from a shoot and the tower that rises from a heap of earth.