Lao Tzu Quotes
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If Heaven were not clear it might rend. If Earth were not firm it might crumble.
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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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Seeing the small is called clarity.
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The rigid tree will be felled.
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All things carry yin and embrace yang. They reach harmony by blending with the vital breath.
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Because every portion of the body, mind, and spirit yearns for the integration of yin and yang, angelic intercourse is led by the spirit rather than the sexual organs. . . . Where ordinary intercourse unites sex organs with sex organs, angelic cultivation unites spirit with spirit, mind with mind, and every cell of one body with every cell of the other body.
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He who controls the past controls the future.
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The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do.
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What should be shrunken must first be stretched.
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Because he (the Sage) demands no honor, he will never be dishonored.
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When the hares have all been caught, the hunting dogs are cooked.
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To manage your mind, know that there is nothing, and then relinquish all attachment to nothingness.
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All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power. If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them. The Master is above the people, and no one feels oppressed. She goes ahead of the people, and no one feels manipulated. The whole world is grateful to her. Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.
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Why is the tao so valuable? Because it is everywhere, and everyone can use it. This is why those who seek will find, And those who reform will be forgiven; Why the good will be rewarded, And the thief who is cunning will escape.
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Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space: All are transient expressions of the Tao.
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It is the child that sees the primordial secret in Nature and it is the child of ourselves we return to. The child within us is simple and daring enough to live the Secret.
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The hard and stiff are death's companions. The soft and weak are life's companions.
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Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness.
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The mature person perceives the fruitlessness of rigid, external methodologies.
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The subtlest of subtleties, this is the gateway to all mysteries.
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The one who does not honor the teacher and the one who does not honor the task, although ever so knowledgeable, they are confused.
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The scholar gains every day; the man of Tao loses every day.
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Heaven's Way does not contend, yet it certainly triumphs. It does not speak, yet it certainly answers. It does not summon, yet things come by themselves. It seems to be at rest, yet it certainly has a plan.
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The river and the sea can be kings of a hundred valleys, because they lie below them.