“To have a human form is a joyful thing.”

The sage embraces things. Ordinary men discriminate amongst them and parade their discriminations before others. So I say; those who discriminate, fail to see.

He who regards all things as one is a companion of Nature.

Great knowledge sees all in one. Small knowledge breaks down into the many.

Verily God does not reward man for what he does, but for what he is.

Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone.

Running around accusing others is not as good as laughing. And enjoying a good laugh is not as good as going along with things.

The creature born is the creature dying.

Fish live in water. Men die in it. Nature is diverse, and not all tastes are the same.

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.

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.

The eye is a menace to clear sight, the ear is a menace to subtle hearing, the mind is a menace to wisdom, every organ of the senses is a menace to its own capacity.

The World is Large – Its beauty indescrible.

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.

During our dreams we do not know we are dreaming. We may even dream of interpreting a dream. Only on waking do we know it was a dream. Only after the great awakening will we realize that this is the great dream.

There may be difficulty at the moment, but I will not lose the Virtue that I possess. It is when the ice and snow are on them that we see the strength of the cypress and the pine. I am grateful for this trouble around me, because it gives me an opportunity to realize how fortunate I am.

Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!

Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.

I take a cliche and try to organize its forms to make it monumental. The difference is often not great, but it is crucial.

I must always have a clear image of the form of a work before I begin. Otherwise there is no impulse to create.

I have confidence that we can form this kind of national community.

Advice is a form of nostalgia.

Don’t try so much to form your character – it’s like trying to pull open a tight, tender young rose.

Women were formed to temper Mankind, and sooth them into Tenderness and Compassion; not to set an Edge upon their Minds, and blowup in them those Passions which are too apt to rise of their own Accord.

Gases are distinguished from other forms of matter, not only by their power of indefinite expansion so as to fill any vessel, however large, and by the great effect heat has in dilating them, but by the uniformity and simplicity of the laws which regulate these changes.