The baby looks at things all day without winking; that is because his eyes are not focused on any particular object. He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doi...
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.
We are born from a quiet sleep, and we die to a calm awakening
I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river.
If a man, having lashed two hulls together, is crossing a river, and an empty boat happens along and bumps into him, no matter how hot-tempered the man may be, he will not get angry. But if there shou...
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.
Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without for much knowledge is a curse.
Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.
The little child learns to speak, though it has no learned teachers - because it lives with those who know how to speak.
People who excuse their faults and claim they didn't deserved to be punished - there are lots of them. But those who don't excuse their faults and admit they didn't deserve to be spared - they are few...
Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth.
Master Dongguo asked Zhuangzi, "This thing called the Way - where does it exist?"Zhuangzi said, "There's no place it doesn't exist.""Come," said Master Dongguo, "you must be more specific!""It is in t...
We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums. And blindness and deafness are not confined to the body alone - the understanding has them, too...
Cease striving. Then there will be transformation.
Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education.
I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
Those who seek to satisfy the mind of man by hampering it with ceremonies and music and affecting charity and devotion have lost their original nature.
I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?
You should find the same joy in one condition as in the other and thereby be free of care, that is all. But now, when the things that happened along take their leave, you cease to be joyful. From this...
If a man crosses a riverand an empty boat collides with his own skiff,Even though he be bad tempered manHe will not become very angry. But if he sees a man in the boat,He will shout at him to steer cl...