The Many Faces of Dr. Lao
Taglines:
Which face will the wily doctor reveal to you?
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Dr. Lao's Arrival Sparks Urgency and Fear
Taglines:
Bolt the doors! Lock the windows! Dr. Lao's coming to town!
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Exploring the Wonders of Dr. Lao
Taglines:
Enter The Fabulous World of Dr. Lao... Whose Wonders Never Cease!
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Victory and Defeat in Ideals
Apollonius of Tyana:
Look at you now. Gloating over a victory that is a defeat. A defeat for all the ideals you once held so sacred.
Clint Stark:
They'll vote to sell.
Apollonius of Tyana:
And then what have you shown, but, your own greed and your own sick hunger for self destruction.
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The Illusion of Human Dignity
Clint Stark:
I was like you once, long time ago. I believed in the dignity of man. Decency. Humanity. But I was lucky. I found out the truth early, boy.
Ed Cunningham:
And what is the truth, Stark?
Clint Stark:
It's all very simple. There's no such thing as the dignity of man. Man is a base, pathetic and vulgar animal.
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The Ideals of Humanity and Greed
Apollonius of Tyana:
You were born with a great love of humanity, Clinton Stark. But this love soon turned to bitterness and contempt. Why? It's because in all your years, you've never been able to understand that perfection exists only as an ideal.
Clint Stark:
Who's interested in ideals? Get the money! That's what counts. Hold it out for the people, then grab at it. That's the truth! There's nothing in-between.
Apollonius of Tyana:
Oh, but there is. Life is sharing. You began with an extreme notion of man's good. His strength and his nobility. You ended with another extreme, equally false. The notion of man's evil. His weakness and his ignobility.
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The Nature of Language and Mood
Ed Cunningham:
Hey! How come you speak perfect English all of a sudden?
Dr. Lao: [no accent]
Oh, it comes and goes. Whatever dialect the mood requires.
Ed Cunningham:
Oh, it just comes and goes?
Dr. Lao: [thick Chinese accent]
Whassa matta you? Alla time asking silly questions! Wise guy!
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Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World
Mike:
How old are you?
Dr. Lao:
I believe I shall tell you. I am seven thousand, three hundred and twenty-two years old... this October.
Mike:
Whew! That is old!
Dr. Lao:
It is, rather.
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The Paradox of Winning and Losing
Mayor James Sargent:
He doesn't want to lose. Who does?
Clint Stark:
I do. Mayor Sargent, every time I bet on weakness, corruption, fallibility… I want to lose. But I always win.
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Freedom and Confinement in Different Forms
Dr. Lao: [in snake form...with a face resembling Clint Stark's]
I wouldn't care to trade with you.
Clint Stark:
Maybe not, but the point is, my scaly friend, that you are in a cage, while I'm free to walk about!
Dr. Lao:
Oh, you have your cage, too. You test your bars just as often as I test mine, kiddo.
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The Illusion of Reality and Expectation
Ed Cunningham:
I hate to tell you this, Doctor, but there aren't any fish in that river. In fact, there isn't any river.
Dr. Lao:
That's okay. Me no use bait.
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Philosophical Acrobatics Explored in Dialogue
Mike:
Are you an acrobat?
Dr. Lao:
Only philosophically.
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The World as a Magical Circus
Dr. Lao:
Mike, let me tell you something. The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it. The way the sun goes down when you're tired, comes up when you want to be on the move. That's real magic. The way a leaf grows. The song of the birds. The way the desert looks at night, with the moon embracing it. Oh, my boy, that's… that's circus enough for anyone. Every time you watch a rainbow and feel wonder in your heart. Every time you pick up a handful of dust, and see not the dust, but a mystery, a marvel, there in your hand. Every time you stop and think, "I'm alive, and being alive is fantastic!" Every time such a thing happens, you're part of the Circus of Dr. Lao.
Mike:
I don't understand.
Dr. Lao: [Jumps over Mike's head, and they begin to dance]
Neither do I!
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The Essence of Wisdom Explained
Dr. Lao:
My specialty is wisdom. Do you know what wisdom is?
Mike:
No sir.
Dr. Lao:
Wise answer.
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The Futility of Life and Existence
Apollonius of Tyana:
Tomorrow will be like today, and the day after tomorrow will be like the day before yesterday. I see your remaining days as a tedious collection of hours full of useless vanities. You will think no new thoughts. You will forget what little you have known. Older you will become, but not wiser. Stiffer, but not more dignified. Childless you are, and childless you will remain. Of that suppleness you once commanded in your youth, of that strange simplicity which once attracted men to you, neither endures, nor shall you recapture them.
Mrs. Cassin:
You're a mean, ugly man!
Apollonius of Tyana:
Mirrors are often ugly and mean. When you die, you will be buried and forgotten, and that is all. And for all the good or evil, creation or destruction, your living might have accomplished, you might just as well never have lived at all.
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Futures and Magic: A Philosophical Exchange
Apollonius of Tyana:
I only read futures; I don't evaluate them.
Merlin:
Tricks? Gadzooks, Madam, these are not tricks! I do magic. I — I create, I transpose, I transubstantiate, I break up, I recombine — but I never trick!
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The Truth Behind Ed Cunningham's Stories
Ed Cunningham:
All those stories about me, they're lies. I'm not a bank robber or a cattle rustler, and I've never kicked a woman in the stomach even once, really!
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Questioning the Nature of the Circus
Ed Cunningham:
Now, come on, Doc! What kind of oriental hocus-pocus is going on around here? A circus with no wagons, no animals, no cages? A crazy old magician? What's it all about?
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The World as a Circus of Wonders
Dr. Lao:
Mike, the whole world is a circus if you look at it the right way. Every time you pick up a handful of dust, and see not the dust, but a mystery, a marvel, there in your hand, every time you stop and think, "I'm alive, and being alive is fantastic!" Every time such a thing happens, Mike, you are part of the Circus of Dr. Lao.
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The Limits of Skepticism in Understanding Reality
Dr. Lao:
My dear lady, the role of skeptic becomes you not. There are things in the world not even the experience of a lifetime spent in Abalone could conceive of.
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Embrace uncertainty and let time reveal.
Dr. Lao:
You worry too much. You worry about how I brought my circus to Abalone with wagons. You worry about the future of your town. Or, if the sun will rise a year from today. The answer is to such matters, remain closed behind a curtain. Then, time says, presto! And out they come.
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The Nature of Mystery and Intrigue
Dr. Lao:
Now, Mr. Cunningham, do you suppose this garrulous intruder may be a... a swindler, perhaps, an assassin, a charlatan plotting some curious disaster for your town? Such characters exist, but they are secretive rather than mysterious. I, sir, am a major mystery.
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Understanding and Conviction in Human Perception
Dr. Lao:
Whatever men do not understand they find unconvincing.
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The Universe in a Grain of Sand
Dr. Lao:
Every time you pick up a grain of sand you hold a universe in the palm of your hand.
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The Unique Experience of Dr. Lao's Circus
Dr. Lao:
This is the circus of Dr. Lao. We show you things that you don't know. Oh, we spare no pains and we spare no dough. Oh, we want to give you one hell of a show! And youth may come and age may go, But no more circuses like this show.
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