Lao Tzu Quotes
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Those who act will fail. Those who seize will lose.
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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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There is a time to go ahead and a time to stay behind. There is a time to breathe easy and time to breathe hard. There is a time to be vigorous and a time to be gentle. There is a time to gather and a time to release. Can you see things as they are And let them be all on their own?
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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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Without going outside, you may know the whole world!
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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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If one desires to receive one must first give. This is called profound understanding.
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The truth often sounds paradoxical.
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The way of heaven is to help and not harm.
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The Great Vessel takes long to complete.
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If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?
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Only those who leisurely approach that which the masses are busy about can be busy about that which the masses take leisurely.
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See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things.
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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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Complete your task. Seek no reward. Make no claims. Without faltering fully choose to do what you must do.
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We are all capable of much more than we think we are.
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Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.
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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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The purest white seems stained.
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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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The things that have acquired unity are these: Heaven by unity has become clear; Earth by unity has become steady; The Spirit by unity has become spiritual; The Valley by unity has become full; All things by unity have come into existence.
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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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Before healing others, heal yourself.
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A foolish man is always doing, Yet much remains to be done.