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Quotes by Chinese Authors
"Klar sieht, wer von ferne sieht, nebelhaft, wer Anteil nimmt."
"When the wind blows,the grass bends."
"To one who is not eager I do not reveal anything, nor do I explain anything to one who is not communicative. If I raise one corner for someone and he cannot come back with the other three, I do not go on."
"Die Wahrheit hat keinen Erfolg."
"Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs."
"If you wish to be out front, then act as if you were behind."
"He who is in harmony with the Taois like a newborn child.Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,but its grip is powerful.It doesn't know about the unionof male and female,yet its penis can stand erect,so intense is its vital power.It can scream its head off all day,yet it never becomes hoarse,so complete is its harmony.The Master's power is like this.He lets all things come and goeffortlessly, without desire.He never expects results;thus he is never disappointed.He is never disappointed;thus his spirit never grows old."
"To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons."
"Revere the unity of all-that-iscarry out your daily activities with compassion;if you do not limit your compassion,you yourself will not be limited."
"The Master said, "I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or onewho hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue, would esteemnothing above it. He who hated what is not virtuous, would practicevirtue in such a way that he would not allow anything that is notvirtuous to approach his person."Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I havenot seen the case in which his strength would be insufficient."Should there possibly be any such case, I have not seen it."
"Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life."
"Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself."
"You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended."
"Ist eine Lehre zur Satzung erstarrt, hat sie geendet."
"A man whose strength gives out collapses along the course. In your case you set the limits beforehand."
"Too much thinking causes confusion and anxietybetter to stick with the simplicity of Tao."
"A good traveler leaves no tracks. Good speech lacks fault-finding."
"Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses."
"Where words lose their meaning, people lose their lives."
"There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen."
"Material and infinite are inseparableAppreciating their interconnectednessis the gateway to understanding."
"Thirty spokesShare one hub.Make the nothing therein appropriate, and you will have the use of the cart."
"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."
"Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing."
"As for the best leaders the people do not notice their existence. The next best the people honour and praise. The next the people fear and the next the people hate. When the best leader's work is done the people say 'we did it ourselves!'"
"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."
"Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas."
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance."
"When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them."
"It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs."
"It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results."
"The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world."
"To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge."
"Wenn man noch nicht das Leben kennt, wie sollte man den Tod kennen."
"To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness."
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