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wyseguy7 t1_ius85g2 wrote

This quote is not by Lao Tzu.

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hugelung t1_iuskx9r wrote

When I was in high school like 20 years ago, this was hanging on the wall, but attributed to Gandhi hahaha

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[deleted] t1_iustx3e wrote

aha, it was Ghandi all along, see

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reverend-mayhem t1_iuu1jye wrote

♪ It was Ghandi all along! ♫

“And I killed British rule in India, too. Mwahaha!”

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ImpossiblePlane27 t1_iut62gd wrote

True, it’s actually just an ancient Chinese proverb (so not by Lao Tzu and can’t be traced to any single Chinese philosophers per se but most probably one of them during the Spring and Autumn period 770-210 BC, in which Chinese philosophy flourished).

The original quote is this:

“积行成习，积习成性，积性成命”

“Actions accumulate to become habits, habits accumulate to become character, characters accumulate to become destiny”

The current quote is apparently sourced to a Japanese scholar who studied ancient China (whom most likely was inspired by the ancient Chinese proverb); he’s been quoted to say something similar to this:

“心理变，态度亦变；态度变，行为亦变；行为变，习惯亦变；习惯变，人格亦变；人格变，命运亦变。”

Which directly translates to:

“Thoughts change, then attitude/mindset change; attitude/mindset change, then behaviors change; behaviors change, then habits change; habits change; habits change, then character changes, character changes, then destiny changes.”

Which I think then inspired the current English version

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Zephyr_Thundercock t1_iuvk7y4 wrote

Got it, said by some philosopher dude in the same time frame we went from the Arquebus to the MQ-9 Reaper Drone.

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invaderpixel t1_iuw23gt wrote

Okay that's awesome, wish you could do that for all the posters hanging up in annoying middle school teacher's classrooms lol

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starskip42 t1_iusidkn wrote

I did not think so, before I click your link I'm guessing Aristotle.

Edit: I need to look into Frank Outlaw

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mastah-yoda t1_iusjeq9 wrote

I jumped into this post just after one about Cunningham's law.

Funny...

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ParaphrasesUnfairly t1_iutjezi wrote

Well if Lao Tzu didn’t say it, it’s not important or useful imo

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Sirlancemehlot t1_iuu8l17 wrote

I'm pretty sure that guy on the buffalo is Dan Akroyd in costume. If Dan Akroyd said it, it has merit.

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sheikhyerbouti t1_iuwhtbr wrote

"People only remember something on the internet if it's attributed to someone famous."

  • Thomas Jefferson
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[deleted] t1_iuso5js wrote

[deleted]

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[deleted] t1_iustf6u wrote

did you read it? very good link, you say bullshit, not even bs, lol, smh

the obvious give-away is the W.A.T.C.H. acronym, obviously the quote was made by an English speaking person, probably a pastor, as they love that sort of thing

it doesn't match exactly with the OP quote, but is clearly explained in the article

so, how do you attribute this to Lao Tzu? that's the real deal. What is the connection? Where is the evidence? What do you say? all you said is 'bs'

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