Zhuangzi quotes - page 2

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse. (Zhuangzi)
How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death we are not like people who got lost in early childhood and do not know the way home? View quote
Zhuangzi
All existing things are really one. We regard those that are beautiful and rare as valuable, and those that are ugly as foul and rotten The foul and rotten may come to be transformed into what is rare and valuable, and the rare and valuable into what is foul and rotten. View quote
Zhuangzi
Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words. View quote
Zhuangzi
Only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it. View quote
Zhuangzi
The petty thief is imprisoned but the big thief becomes a feudal lord. View quote
Zhuangzi
You can't discuss the ocean with a well frog - he's limited by the space he lives in. You can't discuss ice with a summer insect - he's bound to a single season. View quote
Zhuangzi
To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven. View quote
Zhuangzi
Perfect happiness is keeping yourself alive, and only actionless action can have this affect. View quote
Zhuangzi
The wise man looks into space and does not regard the small as too little, nor the great as too big, for he knows that, there is no limit to dimensions. View quote
Zhuangzi
Those in positions of power spend day and night plotting and pondering about what to do. The body is treated in a very careless way. People live their lives, constantly surrounded by anxiety. If they live long before dying, they end up in senility, worn out by concerns: a terrible fate. (Zhuangzi)
To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders. View quote
Zhuangzi
To the most trivial actions, attach the devotion and mindfulness of a hundred monks. To matters of life and death, attach a sense of humor. View quote
Zhuangzi
Today, I went to sleep under a plum tree. There, I dreamed I was a butterfly, flying so pleasently. Then, I fell asleep, and the dream ended. Now- I have to ask myself - am I Zhuang Zi who dreamed of a butterfly? Or am I that butterfly, dreaming I am Zhuang Zi? View quote
Zhuangzi
Moreover, I have heard that those who are fond of praising men to their faces are also fond of damning them behind their backs. View quote
Zhuangzi
If a man, having lashed two hulls together, is crossing a river, and an empty boat happens along and bumps into him, no matter how hot-tempered the man may be, he will not get angry. But if there should be someone in the other boat, then he will shout out to haul this way or veer that. If his first shout is unheeded, he will shout again, and if that is not heard, he will shout a third time, this time with a torrent of curses following. In the first instance, he wasn't angry; now in the second he is. Earlier he faced emptiness, now he faces occupancy. If a man could succeed in making himself empty, and in that way wander through the world, then who could do him harm? View quote
Zhuangzi
You and Confucius are both dreaming, and I who say you are a dream am also a dream. Such is my tale. It will probably be called preposterous, but after ten thousand generations there may be a great sage who will be able to explain it, a trivial interval equivalent to the passage from morning to night. View quote
Zhuangzi
Whether you point to a little stalk or a great pillar, a leper or the beautiful Hsi-shih, things ribald and shady or things grotesque and strange, the Way makes them all into one. View quote
Zhuangzi
How do I know that the dead do not regret their previous longing for life? View quote
Zhuangzi
Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. View quote
Zhuangzi
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous. (Zhuangzi)