Lao Tzu Quotes
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If one desires to receive one must first give. This is called profound understanding.
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Be empty. Be still. Just watch everything come and go. This is the way of Nature.
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To know and not to do is not yet to know.
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If people are not afraid of dying, why threaten them with death?
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The truth often sounds paradoxical.
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Being a model to the world, eternal virtue will never falter in you, and you return to the boundless.
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The Great Vessel takes long to complete.
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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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There is no need to run outside for better seeing... Rather abide at the center of your being; For the more you leave it the less you learn. Search your heart and see... The way to do is to be.
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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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Before healing others, heal yourself.
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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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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 wise are not learned, the learned are not wise.
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Yet mystery and reality emerge from the same source.
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A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms grows from a downy tip; A terrace nine stories high rises from level earth; A journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one's feet.
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Behave simply and hold on to purity.
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It is better not to make merit a matter of reward Lest people conspire and contend.
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When merit has been achieved, do not take it to yourself; for if you do not take it to yourself, it shall never be taken from you.
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Gentleness brings victory to him who attacks, and safety to him who defends. Those whom Heaven would save, it fences round with gentleness.
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He who knows he has enough is rich.
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Act without expectation.
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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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It is wealth to be content.