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.
ZHUANGZISo 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.
More Zhuangzi Quotes
-
-
Luck implies an absolute absence of any principle.
ZHUANGZI -
My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it.
ZHUANGZI -
When there is no more separation between ‘this’ and ‘that,’ it is called the still-point of the Tao. At the still point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things.
ZHUANGZI -
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.
ZHUANGZI -
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.
ZHUANGZI -
Compare birth with death, compare death with life; compare what is possible with what is not possible and compare what is not possible with what is possible; because there is, there is not, and because there is not, there is.
ZHUANGZI -
The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.
ZHUANGZI -
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.
ZHUANGZI -
To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.
ZHUANGZI -
Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
ZHUANGZI -
Easy is right. Begin right and you are easy. Continue easy and you are right. The right way to go easy is to forget the right way, and forget that the going is easy.
ZHUANGZI -
Do not let the artificial obliterate the natural; do not let will obliterate destiny; do not let virtue be sacrificed to fame.
ZHUANGZI -
Horses have hoofs to carry them over frost and snow; hair, to protect them from wind and cold. They eat grass and drink water, and fling up their heels. Such is the real nature of horses.
ZHUANGZI -
The enlightened attention rejects nothing nor welcomes anything-like a mirror it responds equally to all.
ZHUANGZI -
To have attained to the human form is a source of joy. What an incomparable bliss it is to undergo these countless transitions.
ZHUANGZI