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The ultimate happiness is doing nothing.

Zhuangzi

Men do not mirror themselves in running water – they mirror themselves in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of other things.
ZHUANGZI

Deep Man Mirror Run Water
Are you and I perchance caught up in a dream from which we have not yet awakened?
ZHUANGZI

Awake Dreams Myself Yourself
When I talk about having good hearing, I don’t mean just listening, but listening to yourself. When I talk about good eyesight, I don’t mean just looking, but looking at yourself.
ZHUANGZI

Eyes Goodness Hearing Listening Myself Sight Talk
To regard the fundamental as the essence, to regard things as coarse, to regard accumulation as deficiency, and to dwell quietly alone with the spiritual and the intelligent – herein lie the techniques of Tao of the ancients.
ZHUANGZI

Alone Ancient Essence Fundamental Intelligence Quiet Spiritual Technique
Only fools imagine they are already awake. How clearly they understand everything! How easily they distinguish this deception from that reality!
ZHUANGZI

Awake Easy Fools Imagination Reality Understand
Birth is not the beginning, Death is not the end.
ZHUANGZI

Beginning Born Death End
Understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest.
ZHUANGZI

Fine Philosophy Rest Understand
We are born from a quiet sleep, and we die to a calm awakening
ZHUANGZI

Awake Born Calm Death Quiet Sleep
The sage has the sun and moon by his side and the universe under his arm. He blends everything into a harmonious whole. . . . He blends the disparities of ten thousand years into one complete purity. All things are blended like this and mutually involve each other.
ZHUANGZI

Complete Each Other Harmony Involve Moon Purity Sage Sun Universe
Heaven does without doing through its purity, Earth does without doing through its calmness.
ZHUANGZI

Calm Earth Heaven Purity
Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
ZHUANGZI

Absence Happiness Perfection Wisdom
The sound of water says what I think.
ZHUANGZI

Myself Sound Thinking Water
Those who seek to satisfy the mind of man by hampering it with ceremonies and music and affecting charity and devotion have lost their original nature.
ZHUANGZI

Affect Ceremony Charity Donation Lost Man Mindset Music Nature Original Satisfaction Seek
So if loss of what gives happiness causes you distress when it fades, you can now understand that such happiness is worthless. It is said, those who lose themselves in their desire for things also lose their innate nature by being vulgar.
ZHUANGZI

Desire Fade Happiness Loss Nature Vulgar Worth
The perfect man of old looked after himself first before looking to help others.
ZHUANGZI

Help Man Old Perfection
Study is to study what cannot be studied. Undertaking means undertaking what cannot be undertaken. Philosophizing is to philosophize about what cannot be philosophized about. Knowing that knowing is unknowable is true perfection.
ZHUANGZI

Knowledge Known Perfection Philosophy Religious Spirituality Study True Unknown

The ultimate happiness is doing nothing.

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The ultimate happiness is doing nothing.

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