Excerpts from Lao-tzu's TAO TE CHING
             (trans. Stephen Mitchell)
 

The Tao is called the Great Mother:
empty yet inexhaustible,
it gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want.
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Colors blind the eye.
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires wither the heart.

The Master observes the world
but trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
His heart is open as the sky.
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Knowing others is intelligence;
Knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
Mastering yourself is true power.

If you realize you have enough,
You are truly rich.
If you stay in the center
and embrace death with your whole heart,
you will endure forever.
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The Master keeps her mind
always at one with the Tao;
that is what gives her her radiance.

The Tao is ungraspable.
How can her mind be at one with it?
Because she doesn't cling to ideas.

The Tao is dark and unfathomable
How can it make her radiant?
Because she lets it.

Since before time and space were, the Tao is.
It is beyond is and is not.

How do I know this to be true?
I look inside myself and see.
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The Tao never does anything,
yet through it all is done.

If powerful men and women
could center themselves in it,
the world would be transformed
by itself in its natural rhythms.
People would be content
with their simple everyday lives
in harmony, and free of desire.

When there is no desire,
all things are at peace.
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Without opening your door,
you can open your heart to the world.
Without looking out your window,
You can see the essence of the Tao.
 
The more you know,
the less you understand.

The Master arrives without leaving,
sees the light without looking,
achieves without doing a thing.
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Governing a large country
is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much poking.

Center your country in the Tao
and evil will have no power.
Not that it isn't there,
but you'll be able to step out of its way.

Give evil nothing to oppose
and it will disappear by itself.
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In the pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
 
True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.