Quotessence
Home / Authors / Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenTaoismTaoKnowsIfsMindHeavenWayAll ThingsDoeLifeSageWorldEarthWisdomDreamHeartJoyClearEnds

Famous Zhuangzi Quotes

“How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten the way back?...someday there will be a great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream. Yet the stupid believe that they are awake, busily and brightly assuming they understand things, calling this man ruler, and that man a herdsman- how dense!”

KnowsMenWayBelieveHomeDreamLife IsHateLeftStupidYouthCallingAssumingForgottenInsightAwakeningAwakeSomedayDelusionRulersLoving LifeDense
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“Heaven does nothing: its non-doing is its serenity. Earth does nothing: its non-doing is its rest. From the union of these two non-doings All actions proceed. All things are made. How vast, how invisible This coming-to-be! All things come from nowhere! How vast, how invisible No way to explain it! All beings in their perfection Are born of non-doing. Hence it is said: Heaven and earth do nothing Yet there is nothing they do not do. Where is the man who can attain To this non-doing?”

MenWayDoeMadeSaidTwoWisdomActionEarthSpiritualHeavenBornHe ManAll ThingsPerfectionUnionsInvisibleSerenityHeaven And EarthDoings
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“All that is limited by form, semblance, sound, color is called object. Among them all, man alone is more than an object. Though, like objects, he has form and semblance, He is not limited to form. He is more. He can attain to formlessness. When he is beyond form and semblance, beyond "this" and "that," where is the comparison with another object? Where is the conflict? What can stand in his way? He will rest in his eternal place which is no-place. He will be hidden in his own unfathomable secret. His nature sinks to its root in the One. His vitality, his power hide in secret Tao.”

MenWayFormSoundSecretObjectsColorConflictEternalRootsEternityComparisonTaoVitalityUnfathomableSemblance
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“To use what has a boundary to pursue what is limitless is dangerous; with this knowledge, if we still go after knowledge, we will run into trouble. Do not do what is good in order to gain praise. If you do what is bad be sure to avoid the punishment. Follow the Middle Course, for this is the way to keep yourself together, to sustain your life, to care for your parents and to live for many years.”

IfsWayLifeYearsStillsUseCareRunningTogetherOrderCoursesParentKnowledgeTroubleMiddleDangerousGainsPraisePunishmentBoundariesPursueLimitlessCare For You
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“Who knows when the end is reached? Death may be the beginning of life. How do I know that love of life is not a delusion after all? How do I know that he who dreads to die is as a child who has lost the way and cannot find his way home? How do I know that the dead repent of having previously clung to life?”

KnowsWayMayChildrenEndsHomeLife IsDeathDiesLostPrayerDelusionLove LifeFuneralDreadRepentMemorialWay HomeFunerals And DeathBeginning Of Life
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“I cannot tell if what the world considers ‘happiness’ is happiness or not. All I know is that when I consider the way they go about attaining it, I see them carried away headlong, grim and obsessed, in the general onrush of the human herd, unable to stop themselves or to change their direction. All the while they claim to be just on the point of attaining happiness.”

IfsKnowsWorldWayHumansClaimsObsessedHerdsGrimCarried AwayAttaining Happiness
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“Men of the world who value the Way all turn to books. But books are nothing more than words. Words have value; what is of value in words is meaning. Meaning has something it is pursuing, but the thing that it is pursuing cannot be put into words and handed down. The world values words and hands down books but, though the world values them, I do not think them worth valuing. What the world takes to be values is not real value.”

ThinkingMenWorldWayBookRealHandsValuesTurnsReal Value
Book:The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu
Create image

“Tzu Li went to see Tzu Lai who was dying. Leaning against the door, he said, 'Great is the Creator! What will he make of you now? Will he make you into a rat's liver? Will he make you into an insect's leg?' Tzu-Lai replied, 'The universe gave me my body so I may be carried, my life so I may work, my old age so I may repose, and my death so I may rest. To regard life as good is the way to regard death as good. . . . If I regard the universe as a great furnace and creation as a master foundryman, why should anywhere I go not be all right?'”

IfsWayLifeShouldMaySaidBodyAgeUniverseDoorsDyingCreationMastersRegardCreatorLegsOld AgeRatsInsectsReposeLiverFurnaces
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image

“If you want to nourish a bird, you should let it live any way it chooses. Creatures differ because they have different likes and dislikes. Therefore the sages never require the same ability from all creatures. . . concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable. The true saint leaves wisdom to the ants, takes a cue from the fishes, and leaves willfulness to the sheep.”

IfsWayWantShouldDifferentAbilityCreaturesBirdConceptsSaintFishesLikesTaoismDislikeSheepSageAntsSuitableLikes And DislikesWillfulness
Author:Zhuangzi
Create image