Lao Tzu Quotes
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Build up virtue, and you master all.
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If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.
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Not valuing wealth prevents theft.
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Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right.
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That which shrinks must first expand.
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In order to eliminate the negative influences, simply ignore them.
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Yet mystery and imagination arise from the same source. This source is called darkness ... Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding.
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A good calculator does not need artificial aids.
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The high must make the low its base.
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The inner is the foundation of the outer. The still is master of the restless. The Sage travels all day yet never leaves his inner treasure.
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There is a thing inherent and natural which existed before heaven and earth. Motionless and fathomless, It stands alone and never changes; It pervades everywhere and never becomes exhausted. It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe. I do not know its name. If I am forced to give It a name, I call it Tao, and I name it as supreme.
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Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.
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When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.
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The Tao is unpredictable to those that live according to plans. Only those who have no agenda are in harmony with the Tao.
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Superior leaders get things done with very little motion. They impart instruction not through many words, but through a few deeds. They keep informed about everything but interfere hardly at all. They are catalysts, and though things would not get done as well if they were not there, when they succeed they take no credit. And, because they take no credit, credit never leaves them.
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The ancients said: Hulk to be whole.
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Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity.
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Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you.
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To rejoice in conquest is to rejoice in murder.
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When Simplicity is broken up, it is made into instruments. Evolved individuals who employ them, are made into leaders. In this way, the Great System is United.
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The superior leader keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all.
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Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.
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We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
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Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.