"Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner."
— Laozi

January 1, 1970

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Original Language: English

Sources

Also: "If you care what people think, you will always be their prisoner" — Appears in Stephen Mitchell's rendering into English of Tao Te Ching chapter 9; but this is an interpretation of Mitchell's which does not appear in the original text or other recognized English translations. Repeated without attribution in Gilliland, Hide Your Goat, a positive thinking book published in 2013.