Lao Tzu Quotes
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Lessen selfishness and restrain desires.
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Those who seek knowledge, collect something every day. Those who seek the Way, let go of something every day.
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It is wisdom to know others. It is enlightenment to know oneself.
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Act without expectation.
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The Way is eternal. Until your last day, you are free from peril.
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Fame of self: Which matters more? Self or wealth: Which is more precious? Gain or loss: Which is more painful?
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Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.
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Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.
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The truth often sounds paradoxical.
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The Tao is infinite, eternal. Why is it eternal? It was never born; thus it can never die. Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; thus it is present for all beings. The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.
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The cords of passion and desire weave a binding net around you. Worldly confrontation makes you stiff and inflexible. The trap of duality is tenacious. Bound, rigid, and trapped, you cannot experience liberation.
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Without desire there is stillness, and the world settles by itself.
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If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve. Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter's place. When you handle the master carpenter's tools, chances are that you'll cut your hand.
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Every step is on the path.
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Become totally empty Quiet the restlessness of the mind Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness
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True words seem false.
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All things such as grass and trees are soft and supple in life. At their death they are withered and dry.
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Because he is a living divinity, when he acts, the universe acts.
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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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Being is born of not being.
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There is something obscure which is complete before heaven and earth arose; tranquil, quiet, standing alone without change, moving without peril. It could be the mother of everything. Not knowing its name, I call it Tao.
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If one desires to receive one must first give. This is called profound understanding.
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Good leaders reach solutions, and then stop. They do not dare to rely on force.
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The Great Vessel takes long to complete.