black
grey
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A sage steers by the bright light of confusion and doubt.

Zhuangzi

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.
ZHUANGZI

Gradual Opinion Ourselves Perspective Point View
A petty thief is put in jail. A great brigand becomes a ruler of a Nation.
ZHUANGZI

Greatness Nation Prison Rule
You are still guided by your expectations.
ZHUANGZI

Expectation Guide Yourself
You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog, the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect, the creature of a season.
ZHUANGZI

Creature Ocean Season Summer Talk Yourself
Your preciousness lies in your essence; it cannot be lost by anything that happens.
ZHUANGZI

Essence Lost Lying Precious Yourself
When the heart is right, “for” and “against” are forgotten.
ZHUANGZI

Forget Heart Right
Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.
ZHUANGZI

Education Form Low Punishment Reward
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.
ZHUANGZI

Complication Confusion Effect Existence Forget Life Obsession Ourselves Society
The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.
ZHUANGZI

Hide Himself Man Perfection Person Respect Sight
All men know the use of the useful, but nobody knows the use of the useless. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so that I can have a word with him?
ZHUANGZI

Forget Himself Man Word
The knowledge of the ancients reached the highest point-the time before anything existed. This is the highest point. It is exhaustive. There is no adding to it.
ZHUANGZI

Ancient Existence Knowledge Point Reach Time
If you have insight, you use your inner eye, your inner ear, to pierce to the heart of things, and have no need of intellectual knowledge.
ZHUANGZI

Heart Insight Intellectual Knowledge Pierce
When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten. When the belt fits, the belly is forgotten. When the heart is right, “for” and “against” are forgotten. No drives, no compulsions, no needs, no attractions: Then your affairs are under control. You are a free man.
ZHUANGZI

Affair Attraction Control Drive Forget Freedom Heart Man Philosophy Shoe Spirituality Yourself
Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.
ZHUANGZI

Deep Existence Forget Literature Meaning Poet Word Yourself
Sound intelligence promises victory in every battle.
ZHUANGZI

Battle Intelligence Promise Sound Victory
And how do I know that the hate of death is not like a man who has lost his home when young and does not know where his home is to return to?
ZHUANGZI

Death Hate Lost Man Myself Name Return Young

A sage steers by the bright light of confusion and doubt.

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A sage steers by the bright light of confusion and doubt.

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