- “Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”
- “To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders.”
- “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.”
- “Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready.”
- “A path is made by walking on it.”
- “Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education.”
- “To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.”
- “Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.”
- “The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you’ve gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?”
- “Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!”
- “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.”
- “Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now 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.”
- “Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings but contemplate their return.”
- If you don’t realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow.”
- “When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused,
- kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “The sound of water says what I think.”
- “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?”
- “When affirmation and negation came into being, Tao faded. After Tao faded, then came one-sided attachments. ”
- “Where is that man who has forgotten words that I may have a word with him?”
- “Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious.”
- “Yet the stupid believe they are awake, busily and brightly assuming they understand things, calling this man ruler, that one herdsman – how dense! Confucius and you are both dreaming! And when I say you are dreaming, I am dreaming, too. Words like these will be labeled the Supreme Swindle.”
- “Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.”
