Zhuangzi Quotes on Knowledge
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. This page collects quotes attributed to Zhuangzi on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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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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Attributed to Zhuangzi:
“Words are for capturing meaning; once you have grasped the meaning, you can forget the words.”
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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