Lao Tzu Quotes
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Do nondoing, strive for nonstriving, savor the flavorless, regard the small as important, make much of little, repay enmity with virtue; plan for difficulty when it is still easy, do the great while it is still small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are easy; the greatest things in the world must be done while they are small.
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The sage never strives for greatness, and can therefore accomplish greatness.
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Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know. Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity. Be like the Tao. It can't be approached or withdrawn from, benefited or harmed, honored or brought into disgrace. It gives itself up continually. That is why it endures.
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The eternal void is filled with infinite possibilities.
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Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao. It springs into existence, unconscious, perfect, free, takes on a physical body, lets circumstances complete it. That is why every being spontaneously honors the Tao. The Tao gives birth to all beings, nourishes them, maintains them, cares for them, comforts them, protects them, takes them back to itself, creating without possessing, acting without expecting, guiding without interfering. That is why love of the Tao is in the very nature of things.
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Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice.
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When life begins we are tender and weak When life ends we are stiff and rigid All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life and dry in brittle in death So the soft and supple are the companion of life While the stiff and unyielding are the companions of death An army that cannot yield will be defeated A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind Thus by Nature's own decree the hard and strong are defeated while the soft and gentle are triumphant.
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Tao loves and nourishes all things, but does not dominate it over them.
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Because he (the Sage) demands no honor, he will never be dishonored.
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The most fundamental seems fickle.
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The weak overcomes the strong. The soft overcomes the hard. Everybody in the world knows this, still nobody makes use of it.
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Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space: All are transient expressions of the Tao.
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Those who take long steps cannot keep the pace.
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If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand. If you want to get rid of something, you must first allow it to flourish. If you want to take something, you must first allow it to be given. This is called the subtler perception of the way things are. The soft overcomes the hard. The slow overcomes the fast. Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.
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The best soldier does not attack. The superior fighter succeeds without violence. The greatest conqueror wins without struggle. The most successful manager leads without dictating. This is intelligent non aggressiveness.
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The sage honors his part of the settlement, but does not exact his due from others.
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Those who stand on their toes are not steady.
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Heaven's net is very vast. It is sparsely meshed, yet nothing slips through.
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Heavy is the root of light.
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The truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface.
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Returning to the source is stillness. It is returning to one's fate. Returning to one's fate is eternal.
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Does one scent appeal more than another? Do you prefer this flavor, or that feeling? Is your practice sacred and your work profane? Then your mind is separated: from itself, from oneness, from the Tao.
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Stillness overcomes heat.
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Peace and quiet govern the world.