Human life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. To drive the limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one really knows is fatal indeed!
ZHUANGZIHuman life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. To drive the limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one really knows is fatal indeed!
ZHUANGZIThose 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.
ZHUANGZIHorses 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.
ZHUANGZIThose who realise their folly are not true fools.
ZHUANGZIVerily God does not reward man for what he does, but for what he is.
ZHUANGZIThere is danger for the eye in seeing too clearly, danger for the ear in hearing too sharply and danger to the heart from caring too greatly.
ZHUANGZIGood fortune is as light as a feather, but nobody knows how to pick it up. Misfortune is as heavy as earth, but nobody knows how to stay out of it’s way.
ZHUANGZIThe living all find death unpleasant; men mourn over it. And yet, what is death, but the unbending of the bow and its return to its case?
ZHUANGZIThe true man breathes with his heels.
ZHUANGZICompare 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.
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.
ZHUANGZITransmit the established facts; do not transmit words of exaggeration. If you do that, you will probably come out all right.
ZHUANGZIGreat wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.
ZHUANGZIRight is not right; so is not so. If right were really right it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for argument. If so were really so, it would differ so clearly from not so that there would be no need for argument.
ZHUANGZIThe eyes envy the mind.
ZHUANGZIYou 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