Lao Tzu Quotes
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I do not act, and people become reformed by themselves.
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When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty, There arises the recognition of ugliness. When they all know the good as good, There arises the recognition of evil.
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In order to contract, It is necessary first to expand. In order to weaken, It is necessary first to strengthen. In order to destroy, It is first necessary to promote. In order to grasp, It is necessary first to give. This is called subtle light. The weak and the tender overcome the hard and the strong.
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When the Way governs the world, the proud stallions drag dung carriages. When the Way is lost to the world, war horses are bred outside the city.
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I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.
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Hold on to the great image, and the whole world follows, follows unharmed, content and completely at peace.
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Acting without design, occupying oneself without making a business of it, finding the great in what is small and the many in the few, repaying injury with kindness, effecting difficult things while they are easy, and managing great things in their beginnings; this is the method of Tao.
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The truly great ones rely on substance, and not on surface, hold on to the fruit, and not to the flower.
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The Tao is like a well; used but never used up.
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Practice non-action. Work without doing.
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A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.
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There are three layers to the universe. In the lower, Tai Ching, and the middle, Shan Ching, the hindrance of a physical bodily existence is required. Those who fail to live consistently in accord with the Tao reside here. In the upper, Yu Ching, there is only Tao: the bondage of form is broken, and the only thing existing is the exquisite energy dance of the immortal divine beings.
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The world is a sacred vessel. It should not be meddled with. It should not be owned. If you try to meddle with it you will ruin it. If you try to own it you will lose it.
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Why do the people think so little of death? Because the rulers demand too much of life. Therefore the people take death lightly.
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The way to use life is to do nothing through acting, The way to use life is to do everything through being.
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Thorn bushes grow where armies have camped.
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The moment truth is asserted, it becomes false.
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To manage your mind, know that there is nothing, and then relinquish all attachment to nothingness.
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Harmony is called the eternal. Knowing the eternal is called clarity.
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It's hard to keep your balance standing tip-toe.
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Greed is costly. Assembled fortunes are lost.
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Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?
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Therefore the Sage embraces Unity, and is a model for all under Heaven. He is free from self-display, therefore he shines forth; from self-assertion, therefore he is distinguished; from self-glorification, therefore he has merit; from self-exaltation, therefore he rises superior to all. Inasmuch as he does not strive, there is no one in the world who can strive with him.
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The brittle is easy to shatter.