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A leader is best when people barely know he exists,
not so good when people obey and acclaim him,
worst when they despise him.
But of a good leader, who talks little,
when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say, "We did this ourselves."
- Lao Tzu
He who talks more is sooner exhausted.
- Lao Tzu
Silence is a source of great strength.
- Lao Tzu 
A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu
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By letting it go it all gets done.
The world is won by those who let it go.
But when you try and try.
The world is beyond the winning.
- Lao Tzu
To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu
One can not reflect in streaming water.
Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
- Lao Tzu
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu
He who is contented is rich.
- Lao Tzu
To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.
- Lao Tzu
The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- Lao Tzu (Chinese Proverb)
He who knows others is wise.
He who knows himself is enlightened.
- Lao Tzu
Born to be wild - live to outgrow it.
- Lao Tzu
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
- Lao Tzu
The power of intuitive understanding
will protect you from harm until the end of your days.
- Lao Tzu
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.
- Lao Tzu
The more laws and order are made prominent,
the more thieves and robbers there will be.
- Lao Tzu
Loving, hating, having expectations:
all these are attachments.
Attachment prevents the growth of one's true being.
- Lao Tzu
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
- Lao Tzu
Those who have knowledge, don't predict.
Those who predict, don't have knowledge.
- Lao Tzu
A leader is best when people barely know he exists;
when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say: we did it ourselves.
- Lao Tzu
To manage your mind,
know that there is nothing,
and then relinquish all attachment to nothingness.
- Lao Tzu
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength;
loving someone deeply gives you courage.
- Lao Tzu
He who knows himself is enlightened.
- Lao Tzu
Because of a great love, one is courageous.
- Lao Tzu
Ambition has one heel nailed in well,
though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.
- Lao Tzu
The things of this world exist;
they are; you can't refuse them.
- Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching - Book One #2 - version by Ursula K. Le Guin
The softest things in the world overcome
the hardest things in the world.
- Lao Tzu
Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao Tzu
I do not concern myself with gods and spirits
either good or evil, nor do I serve any.
- Lao Tzu
Can you let go of words and ideas,
attitudes and expectations?
If so, then the Tao will loom into view.
- Lao Tzu
The Master acts without doing, and everything gets done.
- Lao Tzu
Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao Tzu
Do not attempt to conquer the world with force,
for force only causes resistance.
- Lao Tzu
If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you are not afraid of dying,
there is nothing you cannot achieve.
- Lao Tzu
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
- Lao Tzu
Truthful words are not beautiful;
beautiful words are not truthful.
Good words are not persuasive;
persuasive words are not good.
- Lao Tzu
At the center of your being you have the answer;
you know who you are and you know what you want.
- Lao Tzu
To love someone deeply gives you strength.
Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
- Lao Tzu
A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
- Lao Tzu
Health is the greatest possession.
Contentment is the greatest treasure.
Confidence is the greatest friend.
Non-being is the greatest joy.
- Lao Tzu
Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline;
simulated fear postulates courage;
simulated weakness postulates strength.
- Lao Tzu
When a nation is filled with strife,
then do patriots flourish.
- Lao Tzu
He who knows, does not speak.
He who speaks, does not know.
- Lao Tzu
A leader is most effective when people barely know he exists.
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
his troops will feel they did it themselves.
- Lao Tzu
Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish -
too much handling will spoil it.
- Lao Tzu
Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.
- Lao Tzu
Love is of all passions the strongest,
for it attacks simultaneously the head,
the heart and the senses.
- Lao Tzu
Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
- Lao Tzu
The wise man looks into space,
and does not regard the small as too little,
nor the great as too much;
for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions.
- Lao Tzu
The career of a sage is of two kinds:
He is either honored by all in the world,
Like a flower waving its head,
Or else he disappears into the silent forest.
- Lao Tzu
Life and death are one thread,
the same line viewed from different sides.
- Lao Tzu
He who controls others may be powerful,
but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
- Lao Tzu
All difficult things have
their origin in that which is easy,
and great things in that which is small.
- Lao Tzu
Be merciful, moderate, and modest.
- Lao Tzu
He who does not trust enough,
will not be trusted.
- Lao Tzu
To lead people walk behind them.
- Lao Tzu
If you do not change direction,
you may end up where you are heading.
- Lao Tzu
Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.
Do not overdo it.
- Lao Tzu
Be simply yourself and don't compare or compete.
- Lao Tzu
Great acts are made up of small deeds.
- Lao Tzu
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
- Lao Tzu
The people are hungry:
It is because those in authority
eat up too much in taxes.
- Lao Tzu
One who is too insistent on his own views,
finds few to agree with him.
- Lao Tzu
Nothing is softer or more flexible than water,
yet nothing can resist it.
- Lao Tzu
Stay at the center
and let all things take their course.
- Lao Tzu
From wonder into wonder existence opens.
- Lao Tzu
To realize that you do not understand is a virtue;
Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.
- Lao Tzu
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity,
reduce selfishness, have few desires.
- Lao Tzu
The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.
- Lao Tzu
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May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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