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Lao Tzu -
Tao Te Ching
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When two opposing sides meet in battle, the one without an enemy will be victorious.
Lao Tzu
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Attending fully and becoming supple, Can you be as a newborn babe?
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The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
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The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil.
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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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Creating without claiming, Doing without taking credit, Guiding without interfering, This is Primal Virtue.
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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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Conquering others takes force, conquering yourself is true strength.
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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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Giving birth and nourishing, Bearing yet not possessing, Working yet not taking credit, Leading yet not dominating, This is the Primal Virtue.
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Why are the people rebellious? Because the rulers interfere too much. Therefore they are rebellious.
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Approach the universe with Tao, And evil will have no power. Not that evil is not powerful, But its power will not be used to harm others.
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What man has more than enough and gives it to the world? Only the man of Tao.
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With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy I can be liberal; shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a vessel of the highest honour.
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Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery.
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The truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface.
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Countless words
count less
than the silent balance
between yin and yang
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The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer famine.
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Better stop short than fill to the brim. Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt. Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
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Good men are bad men's instructors, And bad men are good men's materials.
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Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle. A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
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Accept disgrace willingly... Accept being unimportant... Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things. Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.
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Force is followed by loss of strength. This is not the way of the Tao. That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.
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The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem.
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Why do the people think so little of death?
Because the rulers demand too much of life.
Therefore the people take death lightly.
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Quote of the day
Life is not having been told that the man has just waxed the floor.
Ogden Nash
Lao Tzu
Born:
604 BC
Died:
531 BC
(aged 73)
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