Lao Tzu Quotes
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He who has achieved this state Is unconcerned with friends and enemies, With good and harm, with honor and disgrace. This therefore is the highest state of man.
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Those who have the courage to dare will perish. Those who have the courage not to dare will live.
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Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.
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Because he is a living divinity, when he acts, the universe acts.
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The Way of Tao is this: It strives not, but conquers; It speaks not, but all is made clear; It summons not, but its house is crowded; It contrives not, but the design is perfect.
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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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By following this simple path, you become extraordinary, unfathomable, a being of profound cosmic subtlety. You outlive time and space by realizing the subtle truth of the universe.
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When you accept yourself, the Universe accepts you.
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Those who act will fail. Those who seize will lose.
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We go from birth to death. Three out of ten follow life. Three out of ten follow death. People who rush from birth to death are also three out of ten. Why is that so? Because they want to make too much of life.
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If the sage wants to stand above people, he must speak to them from below. If he wants to lead people, he must follow them from behind.
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Look, and it can't be seen. Listen, and it can't be heard. Reach, and it can't be grasped. Above, it isn't bright. Below, it isn't dark. Seamless, unnamable, it returns to the realm of nothing. Form that includes all forms, image without an image, subtle, beyond all conception. Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it and there is no end. You can't know it, but you can be it, at ease in your own life. Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of wisdom.
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Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.
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Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit, and there won't be any thieves. If these three aren't enough, just stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course.
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Can you let go of words and ideas, attitudes and expectations? If so, then the Tao will loom into view.
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The wise man, after learning something new, is afraid to learn anything more until he has put his first lesson into practice.
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Praise of power leads to weakness; Love of things leads to loss; The wise one leads by filling people's hearts; He destroys illusion and disturbs those who believe they are wise; He does nothing yet everything happens.
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Everything in the universe is created from something, which in turn is created from nothing.
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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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We are all capable of much more than we think we are.
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All things of the world are born of being; being is born of nonbeing.
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The way of heaven is to help and not harm.
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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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See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things.