"The softest of stuff in the world, penetrates quickly the hardest, insubstantial, it enters where there is no room."
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Quote collection
Laozi quotes (page 22 of 66)
1.3K quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear."
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"Deal with the small before it becomes large."
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"Eliminate mental muddiness and obscurity; keep your mind crystal clear. Allow your pure original insight to emerge. Quiet your emotions and abide in serenity. Don't go crazy with the worship of idols, images, and ideas; this is like putting a new head on top of the head you already have. Remember: if you can cease all restless activity, your integral nature will appear."
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"In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle - this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly."
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"But in the present day men cast off gentleness, and are all for being bold; they spurn frugality, and retain only extravagance; they discard humility, and aim only at being first. Therefore they shall surely perish."
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"The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Tao. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."
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"Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner."
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"The wise are not learned, the learned are not wise."
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"Not praising the deserving prevents envy."
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"Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself."
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"The more laws and restrictions there are, The poorer people become. The sharper men's weapons, The more trouble in the land."
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"What has no substance can penetrate what has no opening."
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"The real art of governing consists, so far as possible, in doing nothing."
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"A good runner leaves no footprints."
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"The sage avoids extremity, excess, and extravagance."
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"No thought, no action, no movement, total stillness: only thus can one manifest the true nature and law of things from within and unconsciously, and at last become one with heaven and earth."
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"A good traveler leaves no tracks. Good speech lacks fault-finding."
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"The sage acts by doing nothing."
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"Those who know are wise. Those who know themselves are enlightened."
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