“The wise know they have everything they need within themselves. Hence, they do not seek anything outside themselves.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 44. Fame and Fortune

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“Outside, we govern others. Inside, we care for Heaven. In both, nothing surpasses the gardening of spirit… Only if we are still does virtue have a place to collect.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 59. The Gardening of Spirit

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“Better than disks of jade followed by teams of horses would be one good word or one good deed to keep the people from losing sight of the good.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 62. Basic Goodness

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“The Tao is also hard to understand and hard to put into practice… because all words are wrong, because it cannot be learned, and because the mind only leads us astray. Effortless stillness is not necessarily right, and actionless activity is not necessarily wrong.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 70. Inscrutable

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“Understanding depends on things. Hence, it involves fabrication. Not understanding returns to the origin. Hence, it approaches the truth.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 71. Sick of Sickness

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“Everyone knows about daring to act but not about daring not to act. Those who dare to act walk on the edge of a knife Those who dare not to act walk down the middle of a path.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 73. Heaven’s Net

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“If those above take too much, those below will be impoverished. If those above use too much force, those below will rebel.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 75. Greed

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“The yang we embrace is one. The yin we turn away from is two. Where yin and yang meet and merge is three.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 42. Children of the Way

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“What passes for learning in the world never ends. For every truth found, two are lost.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 20. Unconventional Mind

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“dispassion means to rest, and rest is the root of victory… passion means to act, and action is the basis of defeat.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 31. Victory Funeral

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“When inferior people hear of the Tao, even the ancient sages can’t keep them from laughing. Everyone in the world thinks existence is real. Who wouldn’t shake their head and laugh if they were told that existence wasn’t real and that non-existence was?”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 41. Distilled Life

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“When the ruler possesses the Tao, soldiers become farmers. When the ruler does not possess the Tao, farmers become soldiers.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 46. Enough

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“For the wise, knowledge is not limited to form… Name is not limited to matter… Success is not limited to action… they don’t have to do anything.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 47. Effortless Success

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“If people knew that all creatures are the Way, and children are the mother, they would find the source in everything they meet.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 52. Cultivating the Changeless

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“When the government leaves power with the people… makes no demands, the people respond with openness instead of deception. When the government makes demands, the people use every means to escape.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 58. Goals Without Means

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“punishments cannot be relied upon for governing… the more people we kill, the more people break the law. Thus, punishment is not the answer.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 74. The Great Executioner

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“Those who cultivate the Tao yet still think about themselves are like people who overeat or overwork.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 24. Unnecessary Baggage

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“Lao-tzu's 5000-word text clarifies what is mysterious as well as what is obvious. It can be used to attain the Tao, to order a country, or to cultivate the body.”

from Tao-te-chen-ching yi-chieh

Chapters: 2. The Wordless Teachings

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