If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.
ZHUANGZIWhere can I find a man who has forgotten words, so I can have a few words with him?
More Zhuangzi Quotes
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Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views-then the world will be governed.
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I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
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Great knowledge is universal. Small knowledge is limited. Great words are inspiring; small words are chatter.
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Those who follow the Tao are of clear mind. They do not load their mind with anxieties and are flexible in their adjustment to external conditions.
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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.
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Your preciousness lies in your essence; it cannot be lost by anything that happens.
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Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.
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Heaven does without doing through its purity, Earth does without doing through its calmness.
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The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.
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Everything has what is innate,everything has what is necessary.
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The one-legged creature is envious of the millipede; the millipede is envious of the snake; the snake is envious of the wind; the wind is envious of the eye; the eye is envious of the heart.
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We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
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Let your mind wander in the pure and simple. Be one with the infinite. Let all things take their course.
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The men of old breathed clear down to their heels.
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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.
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Understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest.
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The perfect man of old looked after himself first before looking to help others.
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The saying goes, ‘The sage rests, truly rests and is at ease.’ This manifests itself in calmness and detachment, so that worries and distress cannot affect him, nothing unpleasant can disturb him, his Virtue is complete and his spirit is not stirred up.
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Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.
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When affirmation and negation came into being, Tao faded. After Tao faded, then came one-sided attachments.
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A petty thief is put in jail. A great brigand becomes a ruler of a Nation.
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To be constant is to be useful. To be useful is to realize one’s true nature. Realization of one’s true nature is happiness. When one reaches happiness, one is close to perfection.
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For all people strive to grasp what they do not know, while none strive to grasp what they already know; and all strive to discredit what they do not excel in, while none strive to discredit what they do excel in. This is why there is chaos.
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Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point.
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Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.
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True men” are strong willed, have dignity in their demeanor, serenity in their expression. They are cool like autumn, warm like spring. Their passions arise like the four seasons, in harmony with the ten thousand creatures, and no one knows their limits.
ZHUANGZI