“People value that part of knowledge which is known. They do not know how to avail themselves of the Unknown in order to reach knowledge. Is this not misguided?”

Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.

Look at this window: it is nothing but a hole in the wall, but because of it the whole room is full of light. So when the faculties are empty, the heart is full of light.

All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.

Being is thoughtless-beyond and beneath all categories of thought. Expression is the realization of creative thought. Being is still; expression, moving. But then if I do not strive, who will?

The Way is to man as rivers and lakes are to fish, the natural condition of life.

Those who realise their folly are not true fools.

When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as ignorance.

The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.

Standards are different for all things, so the standard set by man is by no means the only ‘certain’ standard. If you mistake what is relative for something certain, you have strayed far from the ultimate truth.

One whose inner being is fixed upon such greatness emits a Heavenly glow. Even though he has this Heavenly glow, others will see him as just a man. Someone who has reached this point will begin to be consistent.

Your mind must become one, do not try to understand with your ears but with your heart. Indeed, not with your heart but with your soul.

Sound intelligence promises victory in every battle.

Great knowledge is universal. Small knowledge is limited. Great words are inspiring; small words are chatter.

The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.

The little child learns to speak, though it has no learned teachers – because it lives with those who know how to speak.

To go outside what your charge was, and to try to solve everything yourself, is dangerous.

If only men came made to order. It’s so hard to find a decent fellow.

God does not change us in order to love us. He loves us in order to change us.

Take the joy and bear the sorrow, looking past your hopes and fears: learn to recognize the measured dance that orders all our years.

When I’m out, maybe I’m looking at the fried chicken, but I know I need to order the grilled.

I really do believe that in order to overcome our environmental shortcomings.

The first rule of all air combat is to see the opponent first.

From my childhood, obedience was something I could not get out of my system. When I entered the armed service at the age of twenty-seven, I found being obedient not a bit more difficult than it had been during my life to that point. It was unthinkable that I would not follow orders.

All I have to do to make me feel like a new and younger man is to order three new suits of clothes.