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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.

Zhuangzi

There 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.
ZHUANGZI

Clear Dangerous Eyes Greatness Heart Sharp
Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone.
ZHUANGZI

Alone Goodness Result
Tao is the source of both fullness and emptiness. But it is itself neither fullness nor emptiness.
ZHUANGZI

Complete Empty Full Religion Source
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.
ZHUANGZI

Generous Greatness Passion Small Speech Wisdom
Birth is not the beginning, Death is not the end.
ZHUANGZI

Beginning Born Death End
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.
ZHUANGZI

Beyond Dependent Honor Knowledge Lying Man
Great understanding is broad and unhurried; little understanding is cramped and busy.
ZHUANGZI

Broad Busy Calm Greatness Understand
The 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?
ZHUANGZI

Case Death Finding Live Pleasant Return
To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.
ZHUANGZI

Ignorance Knowledge True Yourself
When an archer shoots for enjoyment, he has all his skill; when he shoots for a brass buckle, he gets nervous; when he shoots for a prize of gold, he begins to see two targets.
ZHUANGZI

Beginning Enjoyment Himself Nervous Skill Target
Only fools imagine they are already awake. How clearly they understand everything! How easily they distinguish this deception from that reality!
ZHUANGZI

Awake Easy Fools Imagination Reality Understand
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.
ZHUANGZI

Anxiety Condition Follow Mindset Religious
All men know the utility of useful things; but they do not know the utility of futility.
ZHUANGZI

Known Men Utility
Either in conflict with others or in harmony with them, we go through life like a runaway horse, unable to stop.
ZHUANGZI

Conflict Harmony Life Stop
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
Listening stops with the ears, the mind stops with recognition, but spirit is empty and waits on all things.
ZHUANGZI

Empty Listening Mindset Recognition Spirit Wait

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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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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Popular Authors

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