Quote

Clay is used to make vases, but it is the emptiness they contain that makes them useful.

Laozi

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Laozi
Archivist
Philosopher
Writer
Lao-tze
Lao Tzu
Lao-tzu
Lao-tsu
Li Er
Laotze
Clay
Emptiness
Useful
Makes
Used
Make
Vases
Contain

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All things in nature work silently. They come into being and possess nothing. They fulfill their function and make no claim. All things alike do their work, and then we see them subside. When they have reached their bloom, each returns to its origin. . . . This reversion is an eternal law. To know that law is wisdom.
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From wonder into wonder existence opens.
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The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout.
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Where there is no conflict, there is no fault.
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Life and death are one thread.
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To have enough of enough is always enough.
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Keeping plenty of gold and jade in the palace makes no one able to defend it.
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Thirty spokes meet in the hub, but the empty space between them is the essence of the wheel. Pots are formed from clay, but the empty space within it is the essence of the pot. Walls with windows and doors form the house, but the empty space within it is the essence of the home.
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An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.
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Justice has long arm.
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Practice non-action. Work without doing.
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If you go searching for the Great Creator, you will come back empty-handed. The source of the universe is ultimately unknowable, a great invisible river flowing forever through a vast and fertile valley. Silent and uncreated, it creates all things.
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When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.
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Those who are unswerving have resolve
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The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
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When you are one with loss, the loss is experienced willingly.
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All men desire to free themselves solely from death they do not know how to free themselves from life.
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The tree which needs two arms to span its girth sprang from the tiniest shoot. Yon tower, nine stories high, rose from a little mound of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
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The reason for great distress is the body. Without it, what distress could there be?
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To produce things and to rear them, To produce, but not to take possession of them, To act, but not to rely on one's own ability, To lead them, but not to master them - This is called profound and secret virtue.
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