Lao Tzu Quotes
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The reason for great distress is the body. Without it, what distress could there be?
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If you want to be given everything, give everything up.
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No thought, no action, no movement, total stillness: only thus can one manifest the true nature and law of things from within and unconsciously, and at last become one with heaven and earth.
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That so few understand me is why I am treasured.
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Use the light to return to clarity.
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The unyielding army will not win.
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In lightness the root is lost. In haste the ruler is lost.
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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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Without going outside, you may know the whole world, without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven. The farther you go, the less you know. Thus the sage knows without traveling; he sees without looking; he works without doing.
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The sense organs, which are limited in scope and ability, randomly gather information. This partial information is arranged into judgments, which are based on previous judgments, which are usually based on someone else's foolish ideas. These false concepts and ideas are then stored in a highly selective memory system.
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Great talents ripen late; the highest notes are hard to hear.
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The wise does not think that only he is right -thus he knows the truth.
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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 nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
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Nothing and no one in the world is valuable or worthless.
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Dualistic thinking is a sickness.
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Take care of what is difficult while it is still easy, and deal with what will become big while it is yet small.
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If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled.
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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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Only he who does not seek to be ahead of others is capable of living in harmony with everyone.
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Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is to say 'I don't want to.'
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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 that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding.
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True perfection seems imperfect, yet it is perfectly itself. True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present. True straightness seems crooked. True wisdom seems foolish. True art seems artless. The Master allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come. She steps out of the way and lets the Tao speak for itself.