Life is going forth; death is returning home.
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice.
Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath.
Goodness in words creates trust, goodness in thinking creates depth, goodness in giving creates love.
The value of teaching without words and accomplishing without action is understood by few in the world.
I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.
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.
Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.
Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.
Loving, hating, having expectations: all these are attachments. Attachment prevents the growth of one's true being.
Try to change it and you will ruin it. Try to hold it and you will lose it.
He who stands on tiptoe doesn't stand firm. He who rushes ahead doesn't go far. He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can't know who he really is. He who has power over others can't empower himself. He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures.
Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Be still and allow the mud to settle.
The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice.
ALL things in Nature work silently. They come into being and possess nothing. They fulfil their functions and make no claim.
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.
He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
A good person is the bad person's teacher. A bad person is the good person's task.
All things of the world are born of being; being is born of nonbeing.
It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.
The master accomplishes more and more by doing less and less until finally he accomplishes everything by doing nothing.
Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is the primal identity.
Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men doesn't try to force issues or defeat enemies by force of arms. For every force there is a counterforce. Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself. The Master does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe is forever out of control, and that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Tao. Because he believes in himself, he doesn't try to convince others. Because he is content with himself, he doesn't need others' approval. Because he accepts himself, the whole world accepts him.
Abandon knowledge and your worries are over.
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