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Lao Tzu Quotes
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The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things... The complete whole is the complete whole. So also is any part the complete whole... But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one. The universe is already a harmonious oneness; just realize it.
Lao Tzu
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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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Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature. The way of nature is unchanging. Knowing constancy is insight.
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Some help others in order to receive blessings and admiration. This is simply meaningless. Some cultivate themselves in part to serve others, in part to serve their own pride. They will understand, at best, half of the truth. But those who improve themselves for the sake of the world - to these, the whole truth of the universe will be revealed.
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.. These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife, always chipping away at the Tao, trying to render it graspable and manageable. But that which is beyond form is ungraspable, and that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable. There is, however, this consolation: She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her fingertips.
Lao Tzu
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Live simply and virtuously, true to your nature, drawing no line between what is spiritual and what is not.
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Why are the people rebellious? Because the rulers interfere too much. Therefore they are rebellious.
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Because clarity and enlightenment are within your own nature, they are regained without moving an inch.
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Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice.
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Can you be still and look inside?If so, then you know the truth is always available, and always responsive.
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He who stands on tiptoe is not steady. He who strides cannot maintain the pace. He who makes a show is not enlightened. He who is self-righteous is not respected. He who boasts achieves nothing. He who brags will not endure. According to followers of the Tao, "These are extra food and unnecessary luggage." They do not bring happiness, therefore followers of the Tao avoid them.
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The mature person perceives the fruitlessness of rigid, external methodologies.
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Conquering others takes force, conquering yourself is true strength.
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Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil. Therefore having and not having arise together. Difficult and easy complement each other. Long and short contrast each other. High and low rest upon each other. Voice and sound harmonize each other. Front and back follow one another.
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Creating without claiming, Doing without taking credit, Guiding without interfering, This is Primal Virtue.
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My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don't analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being.
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Don't think you can attain total awareness and whole enlightenment without proper discipline and practice. This is egomania. Appropriate rituals channel your emotions and life energy toward the light. Without the discipline to practice them, you will tumble constantly backward into darkness.
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The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
Lao Tzu
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In caring for others and serving heaven,
There is nothing like using restraint.
Lao Tzu
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Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
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When two opposing sides meet in battle, the one without an enemy will be victorious.
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Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?
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He who knows how to be aggressive, and yet remains patient, becomes a receptacle for all of Nature's lessons.
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Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes difficult; make something big by starting with it when small.
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Arms are instruments of ill omen, not the instruments of the gentleman. When one is compelled to use them, it is best to do so without relish.
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Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.
Robert F. Kennedy
Lao Tzu
Born:
604 BC
Died:
531 BC
(aged 73)
Bio:
Laozi was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, and as a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions.
Known for:
Tao Te Ching
The Way and Its Power
Tao: The Way
Most used words:
tao
people
sage
heaven
virtue
mind
man
hard
day
action
earth
life
death
name
knowledge
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