Lao Tzu Quotes
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The good man is the teacher of the bad, And the bad is the material from which the good may learn. He who does not value the teacher, Or greatly care for the material, Is greatly deluded although he may be learned. Such is the essential mystery.
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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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Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; and shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets one's heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he or she is automatically involved in fear of losing status.
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Keep behind, and you shall be put in front; keep out, and you shall be kept in.
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The farther you go, the less you know.
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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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One who believes in himself has no need to convince others.
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Racing through the field and hunting make the mind wild.
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Sometimes gain comes from losing, and sometimes loss comes from gaining.
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The grandest virtue seems deficient.
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When good thing are accomplished, it does not claim (or name) them. This is Te, which is close in meaning to power or virtue. It is something within a person, and it is enhanced by following the Tao, or 'that from which nothing can deviate'.
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Be as the still mountain; Move like the great river.
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Knowing the bright, but clinging to the dark, you become a model to the world.
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That so few understand me is why I am treasured.
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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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When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
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A vessel is formed from a lump of clay with care, however, it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.
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Words have divided man from woman, one from another, this from that, until only sages know how to put things together. Without words, without even understanding, lovers find each other. The moment of finding is always a surprise, like meeting an old friend never before known.
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When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the Way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not. When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.
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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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There is no illusion great than fear.
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From What-is all the world of things was born But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.