Lao Tzu Quotes
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Although there are weapons for tens and hundreds of soldiers, they will not be used.
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When bitter enemies make peace, surely some bitterness remains.
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To bear the country's disgrace is to rule the shrines of soil and grain. To bear the country's misfortunes is to be the king of the world.
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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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Those who are content suffer no disgrace.
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For all things difficult to acquire, the intelligent man works with perseverance.
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By the accident of fortune a man may rule the world for a time, but by virtue of love and kindness he may rule the world forever.
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The more laws that are written, the more criminals are produced.
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Can you care for the people and rule the country and not be cunning?
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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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Countless words count less than the silent balance between yin and yang
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As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow. The top is bent downward; the bottom is bent up. It adjusts excess and deficiency so that there is perfect balance.
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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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By compassion one can be brave.
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With virtue and quietness one may conquer the world.
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Going back to the origin is called peace; it means reversion to destiny. Reversion to destiny is called eternity. Those who know eternity are called enlightened.
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Therefore: In dwelling, choose modest quarters, in thinking, value stillness, in dealing with others, be kind, in choosing words, be sincere, in leading, be just, in working, be competent, in acting, choose the correct timing. Follow these words and there will be no error.
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If you worry more for others' beliefs, then you will be their slave.
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The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of all things.
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He who knows enough is enough will always have enough.
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He who treasures his body as much as the world can care for the world.
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Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is a dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down it, you position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance. What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear? Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear? See the world as your self. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self; then you can care for all things.
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Whatever is flexible and living will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.
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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.