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Stretch the bow to the very full, and you will wish you had stopped in time.

Laozi

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Laozi
Archivist
Philosopher
Writer
Lao-tze
Lao Tzu
Lao-tzu
Lao-tsu
Li Er
Laotze
Wish
Time
Bows
Stretch
Moderation
Stopped
Full

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Do nothing, and leave nothing undone. [Doing nothing is what happens when the doer disappears, it isn't something that one does or chooses not to do.]
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When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
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If you practice inaction, nothing will be left undone: For the way to acquire lordship over society is by invariably not interfering.
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To consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom.
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When you accurately perceive the fluidity of things, you can also begin to perceive the constancy behind them: the creative, transformative, boundless, immutable Tao.
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Those who of old were good practicers of Tao did not use it to make people bright, but rather used it to make them simple.
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Clay is fashioned into vessels it is on their empty hollowness that their use depends. Doors and windows are cut out to make a dwelling, and on the empty space within, its use depends. Thus, while the existence of things may be good, it is the non-existence in them that makes them serviceable.
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When the government is quite unobtrusive, people are indeed pure. When the government is quite prying, people are indeed conniving.
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The highest tone is hard to hear.
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Where there is no conflict, there is no fault.
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The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.
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Does one scent appeal more than another? Do you prefer this flavor, or that feeling? Is your practice sacred and your work profane? Then your mind is separated: from itself, from oneness, from the Tao.
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The one who is conscious (in Tao) can't speak. The one who can speak is not conscious (centered in Tao)
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Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath.
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The noble must make humility his root.
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You should rule a great country As you would fry a small fish- With the least turning.
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When cleverness emerges There is great hypocrisy.
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In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In daily life, be competent. In action, be aware of the time and the season.
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Knowledge studies others, wisdom is self known.
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Stop leaving and you will arrive, Stop searching and you will see, Stop running away and you will be found.
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