Lao Tzu Quotes
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Free from desire, you realize the mystery, caught in the desire, you see only the manifestations.
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Those who know are not learned. Those who are learned do not know.
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Whoever is planted in the Tao will not be rooted up. Whoever embraces the Tao will not slip away. Her name will be held in honor from generation to generation. Let the Tao be present in your life and you will become genuine. Let it be present in your family and your family will flourish. Let it be present in your country and your country will be an example to all countries in the world. Let it be present in the universe and the universe will sing. How do I know this is true? By looking inside myself.
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My words are easy to understand and easy to perform, Yet no man under heaven knows them or practices them.
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A good person is the bad person's teacher. A bad person is the good person's task.
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Can you be still and look inside?If so, then you know the truth is always available, and always responsive.
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Who can enjoy enlightenment and remain indifferent to suffering in the world? This is not in keeping with the Way. Only those who increase their service along with their understanding can be called men and women of Tao.
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As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by. We have a hundred alternatives, a thousand paths and an infinity of dreams. Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go; hopeless, we are lost forever.
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Thirty spokes are joined in the wheel's hub. The hole in the middle makes it useful.
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The superior student listens to the Way and follows it closely. The average student listens to the Way and follows some and some not. The lesser student listens to the Way and laughs out loud. If there were no laughter it would not be the Way.
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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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By not claiming to be first in the world one can rule.
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These possessions of a simpleton being the three I choose and cherish: to care, to be fair, to be humble.
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If you want everything, you first have to give everything up.
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If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.
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Gently eliminating all obstacles to his own understanding, he constantly maintains his unconditional sincerity. His humility, perseverance, and adaptability evoke the response of the universe and fill him with divine light.
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Follow diligently the Way in your own heart, but make no display of it to the world.
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When the sage stands above people, they are not oppressed. When he leads people, they are not obstructed. The world will exalt him and not grow tired of him.
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Only he who does not seek to be ahead of others is capable of living in harmony with everyone.
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Dualistic thinking is a sickness.