Lao Tzu Quotes
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Intelligent people know others. Enlightened people know themselves.
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The one who can dissolve her mind will suddenly discover the Tao at her feet.
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Not praising the deserving prevents envy.
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The greatest teacher has nothing to say. He simply gives himself in service, and never worries.
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Stillness is easy to maintain.
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Know honor, Yet keep humility. Be the valley of the universe! Being the valley of the universe, Ever true and resourceful, Return to the state of the uncarved block.
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The subtlest of subtleties, this is the gateway to all mysteries.
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Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness.
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There is a big misunderstanding about the idea of naturalness. Most people who come to us believing in some freedom or naturalness, but their understanding is what we call [heretical naturalness] ... a kind of "let-alone policy" or sloppiness... For a plant or stone to be natural is no problem. But for us there is some problem, indeed a big problem. To be natural is something we must work on.
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The rigid and big belong below. The soft and weak belong above.
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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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Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.
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Let people take death seriously, and not travel far.
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The sage desires no desire, does not value rare treasures, learns without learning, recovers what people have left behind.
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The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do.
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Love is the greatest link that we have with those who have temporarily left us.
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The new life created by the final integration is self-aware yet without ego, capable of inhabiting a body yet not attached to it, and guided by wisdom rather than emotion. Whole and virtuous, it can never die.
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The True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
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The great image lacks shape.
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People starve. The rulers consume too much with their taxes. That is why people starve.
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Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.
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There is one appointed supreme executioner. Truly, trying to take the place of the supreme executioner is like trying to carve wood like a master carpenter. Of those who try to carve wood like a master carpenter, there are few who do not injure their hands.
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The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
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The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honors.