Zhuangzi quotes

Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher and writer from the Warring States period. His teachings emphasized the relativity of things, the value of spontaneity, and the importance of living in harmony with nature. He inspired generations with profound stories and paradoxes that continue to shape Daoist thought. Here are 46 of his quotes:

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness. (Zhuangzi)
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it. View quote
Zhuangzi
Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education. View quote
Zhuangzi
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. View quote
Zhuangzi
Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. View quote
Zhuangzi
Where is that man who has forgotten words that I may have a word with him? View quote
Zhuangzi
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. View quote
Zhuangzi
Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth. View quote
Zhuangzi
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. View quote
Zhuangzi
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? View quote
Zhuangzi
Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home! (Zhuangzi)
The sound of water says what I think. View quote
Zhuangzi
If you have insight, you use your inner eye, your inner ear, to pierce to the heart of things, and have no need of intellectual knowledge. View quote
Zhuangzi
When the heart is right, "for" and "against" are forgotten. View quote
Zhuangzi
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. View quote
Zhuangzi
And how do I know that the hate of death is not like a man who has lost his home when young and does not know where his home is to return to? View quote
Zhuangzi
A frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean. View quote
Zhuangzi
Right 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. View quote
Zhuangzi
We are born from a quiet sleep, and we die to a calm awakening. View quote
Zhuangzi
A path is made by walking on it. View quote
Zhuangzi
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. (Zhuangzi)
To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge. View quote
Zhuangzi
During our dreams we do not know we are dreaming. We may even dream of interpreting a dream. Only on waking do we know it was a dream. Only after the great awakening will we realize that this is the great dream. View quote
Zhuangzi
I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river. View quote
Zhuangzi
Those who realize their folly are not true fools. View quote
Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi - Image
Occupation: Chinese Philosopher
Born: 369 BC
Died: 288 BC
Quotes count: 46
Wikipedia: Zhuangzi

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