Quote collection
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"The Tao doesn't take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil. The Master doesn't take sides; she welcomes both saints and sinners. The Tao is like a bellows: it is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it, the less you understand. Hold on to the center."
"Take [preventive] action before things happen. Establish order before disorder has begun."
"Therefore the Sage embraces Unity, and is a model for all under Heaven. He is free from self-display, therefore he shines forth; from self-assertion, therefore he is distinguished; from self-glorification, therefore he has merit; from self-exaltation, therefore he rises superior to all. Inasmuch as he does not strive, there is no one in the world who can strive with him."
"What should be shrunken must first be stretched."
"Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained."
"From caring comes courage."
"All things arise in unison. Thereby we see their return."
"The subtlest of subtleties, this is the gateway to all mysteries."
"Great indeed is the sublimity of the creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven."
"The master accomplishes more and more by doing less and less until finally he accomplishes everything by doing nothing."
"You will understand a great truth when you get to realize that what you do to others, you are doing to yourself."
"If you wish to become a divine immortal angel, then restore the angelic qualities of your being through virtue and service. This is the only way to gain the attention of the immortals... These angelic teachers cannot be sought out; it is they who seek out the student. When you succeed in connecting your energy with the divine realm through high awareness and the practice of undiscriminating virtue, the transmission of the ultimate subtle truths will follow."
"Observe how endings become beginnings."
"The master understands that the universe is forever out of control"
"The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days."
"Distortion upon distortion: . . . the more one uses the mind, the more confused one becomes."
"Acting without design, occupying oneself without making a business of it, finding the great in what is small and the many in the few, repaying injury with kindness, effecting difficult things while they are easy, and managing great things in their beginnings; this is the method of Tao."
". . . integral wisdom involves a direct participation in every moment: the observer and the observed are dissolved in the light of pure awareness, and no mental concepts or attitudes are present to dim that light."
"My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice. Yet your intellect will never grasp them, and if you try to practice them, you'll fail. My teachings are older than the world. How can you grasp their meaning? If you want to know me, look inside your heart."
"The sage knows without traveling, perceives without looking, completes without acting."