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We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see, but these things are only the effects of something subtle.

Laozi

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Laozi
Archivist
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Lao-tze
Lao Tzu
Lao-tzu
Lao-tsu
Li Er
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Practice non-action. Work without doing.
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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 sage is sharp but does not cut, pointed but does not pierce, forthright but does not offend, bright but does not dazzle.
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Man, when living, is soft and tender when dead, he is hard and tough. All animals and plants when living are tender and delicate when dead they become withered and dry. Therefore it is said: the hard and tough are parts of death the soft and tender are parts of life.
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The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist. The next best is a leader who is loved and praised. Next comes the one who is feared. The worst one is the leader that is despised ... The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly. When they have accomplished their task, the people say, Amazing! We did it, all by ourselves!
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Appetite for food and sex is nature.
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Know the white, But keep the black, Be an example to the world! Being an example to the world, Ever true and unwavering, Return to the infinite.
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The Way is ever nameless.
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The wise man looks back into the past, and does not grieve over what is far off, nor rejoice over what is near for he knows that time is without end.
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Pounding an edge to sharpness will not make it last.
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Let people return to making knots on ropes, instead of writing.
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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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Those who know do not speak Those who speak do not know. Stop up the openings, Close down the doors, Rub off the sharp edges. Unravel all confusion. Harmonize the light, Give up contention: This is called finding the unity of life.
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Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.
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If lightning is the anger of the gods, then the gods are concerned mostly about trees.
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I am wearied, as if I lacked a home to go to.
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The truth often sounds paradoxical.
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. . . Intelligence is not the same thing as wisdom.
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Clay is used to make vases, but it is the emptiness they contain that makes them useful.
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Heaven's net is very vast. It is sparsely meshed, yet nothing slips through.
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