Quote collection
237 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"He who does his work like a machine grows a heart like a machine and he who carries the heart of a machine in his breast loses his simplicity. He who has lost his simplicity becomes unsure in the strivings of his soul."
"The eyes envy the mind."
"In an archery contest, when the stakes are earthenware tiles a contestant shoots with skill. When the stakes are belt buckles he becomes hesitant, and if the stakes are pure gold he becomes nervous and confused. There is no difference as to his skil."
"Heaven is in everything: follow the light, hide in the cloudiness and begin in what is. Do this and your understanding will be like not understanding and your wisdom will be like not being wise. By not being wise you will become wise later."
"The right way to go easy is to forget the right way."
"To exercise no-thought and rest in nothing is the first step toward resting in Tao. To start from nowhere and follow no road is the first step toward attaining Tao."
"You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog, the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect, the creature of a season."
"Where can I find a man who has forgotten words, so I can have a few words with him?"
"When affirmation and negation came into being, Tao faded. After Tao faded, then came one-sided attachments."
"Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth."
"Take care of your body, then the rest will automatically become stronger."
"Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied."
"Great knowledge sees all in one. Small knowledge breaks down into the many."
"Men of this world all rejoice in others being like themselves, and object to others not being like themselves."
"Cherish that which is in you and shut out that which is without, for much knowledge is a curse."
"The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, not because he wills to be quiet. . . . Joy does all things without concern. For emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness, silence, and non-action are the root of all things."
"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?"
"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. There is no change in what is inside, no following what is outside, when the adjustment to events is comfortable. One begins with what is comfortable and never experiences what is uncomfortable, when one knows the comfort of forgetting what is comfortable."
"Only the intelligent knows how to identify all things as one. . . . When one is at ease with himself, one is near Tao. This is to let Nature take its own course."
"For we can only know that we know nothing, and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing."