Zhuangzi Quotes

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.

The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.

All existing things are really one. We regard those that are beautiful and rare as valuable, and those that are ugly as foul and rotten The foul and rotten may come to be transformed into what is rare and valuable, and the rare and valuable into what is foul and rotten.

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.

My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it.

Do not seek fame. Do not make plans. Do not be absorbed by activities. Do not think that you know. Be aware of all that is and dwell in the infinite. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you, but act as though you have received nothing. Be empty, that is all.

Take care of your body, then the rest will automatically become stronger.

Your preciousness lies in your essence; it cannot be lost by anything that happens.

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.

To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.

Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.

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.

A petty thief is put in jail. A great brigand becomes a ruler of a Nation.

Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth.

The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.

The sound of water says what I think.

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.