What are your favourite short Taoist phrases?

[Birmingham]

I'll start... my favourites include:

* Teach by example, not by words.

* Pretty words aren't sincere, sincere words aren't pretty.

* Those who talk don't know, those who know don't talk.

* The great leader wears rags and carries cash inside.

* The great leader benefits and does not harm.

* Moving on when work is done: heaven's way.

* Call them both deep, deep and again deep - the way to all mystery.

* What others fear I should fear: how stupid!

* Only faulting faults is faultless. By faulting faults the great leader is faultless.


What are your favourite short Taoist phrases?

[mandell]

Tao expresses itself as the multiplicity of beings.
- Chuang Tzu


To follow Tao, look within and return to the universal Self.
- Lao Tzu

[philuk]

The eternal Tao is the grace in all things.

[prismatism]

this isn't exactly short but i love it :D. from the tao te ching.

man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. so it is with all things. trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered. thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life. hence he who relies on the strength of his forces does not conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms. therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above.

[Cornball1]

Have some tea.

[BlackBillBlake]

'Wu'.

[dirtydog]

LEAVE ME ALONE.


Leave it alone.
Leave us alone.

Fill the belly. Empty the mind.

Learn to forget.

America shits money. Shit here.

[taw]

The Tao of Taw

[Quoth the Raven]

Wu-Wei

'nuff said.

[Exposed]

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, of course.

[Musikero]

Heaven and Earth do nothing, and yet there is nothing that remains undone.

[OlderWaterBrother]

To act sincerely with the insincere is dangerous.

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

It is not hard to produce wisdom... what is hard is to have wisdom not interrupted.

The journey is the reward.

Follow Nature

[underthesun]

As Soon As The World Regards Something As Good, Evil Simultaneously Becomes Apparent.



When One's Task Is Accomplished, One Lets Go Of It And Seeks No Reward Or Recognition. Because One Does Not Claim Credit For Oneself, One Does Not Do Any Damage To Oneself.



Empty Your Mind. Enjoy Good Health. Weaken Your Ambitions. Strengthen Your Essence.



Many Words Lead One Nowhere. Many Pursuits In Different Directions Bring Only Exhaustion. Rather, Embrace The Subtle Essence Within.



Give Birth To And Nourish All Things Without Desiring To Possess Them. Give Of Yourself Without Expecting Anything In Return. Assist People, But Do Not Attempt To Control Them. This Is How To Realize The Deep Virtue Of The Universe.






One Cannot Inspire Confidence In People Through Words Alone. It Must Be Accompanied Be Correct Deeds. When One Of Subtle Virtue Has Accomplished His Tasks, All The People Will Say, "it Is We Ourselves Who Made It So."



Let All People Return To Their True Nature. Love, Kindness, Wisdom, Family Harmony And Loyalty Should Not Be Taught One By One, Seperately From An Honest Life. Then, Once Again, People Will Regain The Natural Virtue Of Wholeness. The World Will Be Naturally Ordered. There Will Be No One Who Singly And Cunningly Works For Personal Interest Alone.