Lao Tzu Quotes
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As soon as rules were made, names were given. There are already many names. One must know when it is enough.
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If people live in constant fear of death, and if breaking the law is punished by death, then who would dare?
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A tree as wide as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.
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Who is unhappy with little, won't be with much; who doesn't appreciate the small won't be able to take care of the large; who doesn't have enough with enough is at the margin or virtue, for the physical body lives from one day to another and if it gets what it really needs, there will be time for meditation, as long as if we try to give it everything it desires, endless will be the task.
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To know that you do not know is the best. To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.
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Free from desire, you realize the mystery, caught in the desire, you see only the manifestations.
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Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.
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Do not attempt to conquer the world with force, for force only causes resistance.
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He does not struggle with anyone - thus no one can vanquish him.
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Throw away sacredness and wisdom and people will be one hundred times happier.
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Know the white, But keep the black, Be an example to the world! Being an example to the world, Ever true and unwavering, Return to the infinite.
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Quarrel with a friend - and you are both wrong.
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Can you care for the people and rule the country and not be cunning?
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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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People turn their eyes and ears to him (the sage), and the sage cares for them like his own children.
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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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Those who boast are not respected.
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It (Tao) is eternally without desire. So, it can be called small. All things return to it, although it does not make itself their ruler. So, it can be called great.
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Those who know are not learned. Those who are learned do not know.
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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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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.
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A winner listens, a loser just waits until it is their turn to talk.
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Let people return to making knots on ropes, instead of writing.
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Man is ruled by Earth. Earth is ruled by Heaven. Heaven is ruled by the Way. The Way is ruled by itself.