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"The way begets one; One begets two; Two begets three; Three begets the myriad creatures. The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in theirarms the yang and are the blending of the generative forces of the two. There are no words which men detest more than 'solitary', 'desolate',and 'hapless', yet lords and princes use these to refer to themselves. Thus a thing is sometimes added to by being diminished and diminishedby being added to. What others teach I also teach. 'The violent shall not come to a natural end.' I shall take this as my precept."

Author

Lao Tzu

All Translations

English

"The way begets one; One begets two; Two begets three; Three begets the myriad creatures. The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in theirarms the yang and are the blending of the generative forces of the two. There are no words which men detest more than 'solitary', 'desolate',and 'hapless', yet lords and princes use these to refer to themselves. Thus a thing is sometimes added to by being diminished and diminishedby being added to. What others teach I also teach. 'The violent shall not come to a natural end.' I shall take this as my precept."

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