Zhuangzi Quotes
Zhuangzi was a Chinese Taoist philosopher of the fourth century BC, regarded with Lao Tzu as one of the two foundational figures of philosophical Taoism. The book that bears his name is one of the masterpieces of classical Chinese literature, combining philosophical argument with parable, paradox, dream sequences, and humour. The quotes below are attributed to Zhuangzi, organized by topic.
Browse Zhuangzi by topic
Zhuangzi on Happiness
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten.”
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.”
Zhuangzi on Justice
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“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.”
Ch. 2 (tr. Burton Watson, 1968) If right were really right, it would be so different from not-right that there would be no room for argument. If so were really so, then it would be so different from not-so that there would be no room for argument. Tr. Paul Kjellberg, in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001) ch. 5, p. 224 -
“Ch. 2 (tr. Burton Watson, 1968) If right were really right, it would be so different from not-right that there would be no room for argument. If so were really so, then it would be so different from not-so that there would be no room for argument. Tr. Paul Kjellberg, in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001) ch. 5, p. 224”
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.
Zhuangzi on Knowledge
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Great knowledge is broad and unhurried; little knowledge is cramped and busy.”
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“He who knows the activity of Heaven and the activity of man is perfect.”
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“Ch. 1 (tr. Anthony Watson-Gandy and Terence Gordon, from the French of René Grousset, 1952)”
The great bird rises on the wind to a height of a thousand miles. What does it see from on high there in the blue? Is it droves of wild horses galloping? Is it primeval matter whirling in atomic dust? Is it the exhalations that give birth to all things? Is it the blue of the sky itself, or is it only the colour of infinite distance? -
“Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.”
Ch. 2 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942) -
“Ch. 2 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942)”
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous. -
“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.”
Ch. 2 (tr. Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, 1974) -
“Ch. 2 (tr. Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, 1974)”
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. -
“Ch. 2 (tr. Burton Watson, 1968)”
Whether you point to a little stalk or a great pillar, a leper or the beautiful Hsi-shih, things ribald and shady or things grotesque and strange, the Way makes them all into one . Their dividedness is their completeness; their completeness is their impairment. No thing is either complete or impaired, but all are made into one again. Only the man of far-reaching vision knows how to make them into -
“Ch. 2 (tr. Paul Kjellberg, 2001)”
How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death we are not like people who got lost in early childhood and do not know the way home? Lady Li was the child of a border guard in Ai. When first captured by the state of Jin, she wept so much her clothes were soaked. But after she entered the palace, shared the king's bed, and dined on the finest meats, she regret -
“He who knows what is of God and who knows what is of Man has reached indeed the height (of wisdom).”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 6 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942) -
“To know to stop where they cannot arrive by means of knowledge is the highest attainment. Those who cannot do this will be destroyed on the lathe of Heaven.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 23, sect. 7 (tr. James Legge, 1891) To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven. Quoted as the epig -
“To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven.”
Zhuangzi | Quoted as the epigraph to Ch. 3 of Ursula K. Le Guin 's The Lathe of Heaven (1971), based on Legge's translation; Le Guin was subsequently informed that this was a poor translation, as there were no l -
“All men know the utility of useful things; but they do not know the utility of futility.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 4 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942) -
“Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 11 (tr. Herbert A. Giles, 1889) -
“Thus, the wise man looks into space, and does not regard the small as too little, nor the great as too much; for he knows that there is no limit to dimension.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 17 莊子/秋水 (tr. Herbert A. Giles, 1889) -
“Away then with wisdom and knowledge, and great robbers will disappear!”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 10 (tr. Herbert A. Giles, 1889) -
“For all men strive to grasp what they do not know, while none strive to grasp what they already know; and all strive to discredit what they do not excel in, while none strive to discredit what they do excel in. This is why there is chaos.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 10 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942)
Zhuangzi on Life
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“Perfect happiness is keeping yourself alive, and only actionless action can have this affect.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 18 (tr. Martin Palmer and Elizabeth Breuily, 1996)
Zhuangzi on Mind
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, 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 Zhuangzi.”
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: stay centred by accepting whatever you are doing.”
Zhuangzi on Nature
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Just rest in inaction, and things will transform themselves.”
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“The great bird rises on the wind to a height of a thousand miles. What does it see from on high there in the blue? Is it droves of wild horses galloping? Is it primeval matter whirling in atomic dust? Is it the exhalations that give birth to all things? Is it the blue of the sky itself, or is it only the colour of infinite distance?”
Ch. 1 (tr. Anthony Watson-Gandy and Terence Gordon, from the French of René Grousset, 1952) -
“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.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 8 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942) -
“Resolve your mental energy into abstraction, your physical energy into inaction. Allow yourself to fall in with the natural order of phenomena, without admitting the element of self,—and the empire will be governed.”
Zhuangzi | Ch. 7 (tr. Herbert A. Giles, 1889)
Zhuangzi on Truth
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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Words are for capturing meaning; once you have grasped the meaning, you can forget the words.”
Zhuangzi on Virtue
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Attributed to 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.”