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Guess who (allegedly) invented these quotes  [message #70103] Thu, 13 August 2015 15:54 Go to next message
Kitzyma is currently offline  Kitzyma

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Here are some quotes, allegedly by someone who may not have really existed. Can you guess who? Do any of them strike a particular chord with you? (The first three are my favourites)

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."

"When goodness is lost, it is replaced by morality."

"When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad."

"The usefulness of a pot comes from its emptiness."

"He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough."

"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power."

"Try to change it and you will ruin it. Try to hold it and you will lose it."

"Those who know do not say. Those who say do not know."

"A journey of a thousand li starts with a single step."

"The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be."

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

"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."

"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."

"Silence is a source of great strength."

"The best people are like water, which benefits all things and does not compete with them. It stays in lowly places that others reject."

[Updated on: Thu, 13 August 2015 18:04]

Re: Guess who (allegedly) invented these quotes  [message #70109 is a reply to message #70103] Fri, 14 August 2015 08:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ray is currently offline  Ray

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You mean Lao Tse was invented by someone else?

Was he gay?
Re: Guess who (allegedly) invented these quotes  [message #70110 is a reply to message #70109] Fri, 14 August 2015 10:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kitzyma is currently offline  Kitzyma

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"Ray wrote on Fri, 14 August 2015 08:59"
You mean Lao Tse was invented by someone else?

Was he gay?

--

I mean that it's not universally accepted that he was a real historical person (or at least not just one person) and that some think it's possible that the Te-Tao Ching is a compilation of the works of more than one person. Personally, I don't think that it really matters any more than how much of what is supposedly 'known' about the lives of Christ or the Buddha is historical and whether they said every word attributed to them. Of course it may be of interest to academics, but would the works of Shakespeare be any more or less great if someone else had written them?

So my use of 'allegedly' was a bit tongue-in-cheek, which is why it's in parentheses in the message header. In fact the word is so overused and misused on TV nowadays, especially on the news,  that it's become a bit of a joke word for many people, including me.

I don't know if he was gay. According to wikipedia "In accounts where Laozi married, he was said to have had a son named Zong". Of course, that doesn't mean he wasn't gay. Smile

BTW - one reason that
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."
is one of my favourites is that I think the apparent statement of the obvious is actually a warning similar to "be careful what you ask for".

[Updated on: Fri, 14 August 2015 10:01]

Re: Guess who (allegedly) invented these quotes  [message #70118 is a reply to message #70110] Fri, 14 August 2015 22:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ray is currently offline  Ray

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Yes, with the spread of social media it is now easier to loose track of who said what.
But the quotes still have their uses - does it really matter where they are from?

Here are a couple of my favourites:

"Why are you unhappy?
Because 99.9 per cent
Of everything you think
And everything you do
Is for yourself

And there isn't one."

"I try not to speak more clearly than I think."

"There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed."

"I am not going to pay good money to join a club that lets in people like me"


Re: Guess who (allegedly) invented these quotes  [message #70123 is a reply to message #70118] Sun, 16 August 2015 09:25 Go to previous message
samsone is currently offline  samsone

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"Ray wrote on Fri, 14 August 2015 22:47"
Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed."


--
So true.

Do you not think though that a lot of these type of quotes have become so overused, especially by the self help industry that they've almost descended into parody?
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