"Rituals are the end of fidelity and honesty, and the beginning of confusion."
Taoism quotes
Taoism
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Taoism quotes (page 14 of 28)
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"We go from birth to death. Three out of ten follow life. Three out of ten follow death. People who rush from birth to death are also three out of ten. Why is that so? Because they want to make too much of life."
"There is no greater crime than desire."
"The sage attends to the belly, and not to what he sees."
"When good thing are accomplished, it does not claim (or name) them. This is Te, which is close in meaning to power or virtue. It is something within a person, and it is enhanced by following the Tao, or 'that from which nothing can deviate'."
"The female always surpasses the male with stillness. In her stillness she is yielding."
"Taking things lightly must lead to big difficulties."
"Abandon benevolence, discard duty, and people will return to the family ties."
"The Way is hidden and nameless. Still only the Way nourishes and completes."
"Those who die without being forgotten get longevity."
"If people live in constant fear of death, and if breaking the law is punished by death, then who would dare?"
"As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow. The top is bent downward; the bottom is bent up. It adjusts excess and deficiency so that there is perfect balance."
"Praise leads to weakness. Getting it causes fear, losing it causes fear."
"The noble must make humility his root."
"Pursue without interfering."
"All things such as grass and trees are soft and supple in life. At their death they are withered and dry."
"The truly great ones rely on substance, and not on surface, hold on to the fruit, and not to the flower."
"People take death lightly. They expect too much of life. That is why people take death lightly."
"Man may rest in the eternal fitness; he may abide in the everlasting; and roam from the beginning to the end of all creation. He may bring his nature to a condition of ONE, he may nourish his strength; he may harmonise his virtue, and so put himself into partnership with God."
"I used to think that you could find peace and it would always be there. And there is a sense of that. But even in the worst moments, catch yourself and remember that within the storm of misfortune there is good fortune. Just get in practice with what they call in Taoism the Wu-wei; the non-action and becoming the observer of it. Just notice and stay at peace with it. I must have admit, that I still have those really disrupting moments."