Lao Tzu Quotes
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Peace and quiet are preferred. Victory should not be praised.
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The usefulness of the pot lies in its emptiness.
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I am at peace, and people become fair by themselves.
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Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery.
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Do you think that you can clear your mind by sitting constantly in silent meditation? This makes your mind narrow, not clear. Integral awareness is fluid and adaptable, present in all places and at all times. That is true meditation. ... The Tao is clear and simple, and it doesn't avoid the world.
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Peace is our natural state of being.
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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 truly wise are content to be last. They are, therefore, first. They are indifferent to themselves. They are, therefore self-confident.
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Those who would take over the earth and shape it to their will, never, I notice succeed.
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Leadership is your ability to hide your panic from others.
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Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.
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If you can let go of (the Tao) with your mind and surround it with your heart, it will live inside you forever.
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He who knows enough is enough will always have enough.
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There is no greater fault than sensual indulgence. There is no greater misfortune than malcontent. There is no greater calamity than greed.
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We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see, but these things are only the effects of something subtle.
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Do not fear the aging of the body for it is the body's way of seeking the root.
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Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.
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Without stepping out the door, you can know the world.
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Nothing is weaker than water, Yet for overcoming what is hard and strong, Nothing surpasses it.
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The master accomplishes more and more by doing less and less until finally he accomplishes everything by doing nothing.
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Whatever one cultivates, is what one becomes.
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Arms are instruments of ill omen.... When one is compelled to use them, it is best to do so without relish. There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men.... When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow. When victorious in war, one should observe mourning rites.
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Great talents ripen late; the highest notes are hard to hear.
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Knowing that you do not know is the best. Not knowing that you do not know is an illness.