The petty thief is imprisoned but the big thief becomes a feudal lord.
Only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it.
In all affairs, whether large or small, there are few men who reach a happy conclusion except through the Way. If you do not succeed, you are bound to suffer from the judgment of men. If you do succeed, you are bound to suffer from the yin and yang. ...
You can't discuss the ocean with a well frog - he's limited by the space he lives in. You can't discuss ice with a summer insect - he's bound to a single season.
In the world everyone knows enough to pursue what he does not know, but no one knows enough to pursue what he already knows. Everyone knows enough to condemn what he takes to be no good, but no one knows enough to condemn what he has already taken to...
Suppose I try saying something. What way do I have of knowing that if I say I know something I don't really not know it? Or what way do I have of knowing that if I say I don't know something I don't really in fact know it?
I have heard that he who knows what is enough will not let himself be entangled by thoughts of gain; that he who really understands how to find satisfaction will not be afraid of other kinds of loss; and that he who practices the cultivation of what ...
Not to understand is profound; to understand is shallow. Not to understand is to be on the inside; to understand is to be on the outside.
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 ...
Your life has a limit, but knowledge has none. If you use what is limited to pursue what has no limit, you will be in danger.
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.
Do not use life to give life to death. Do not use death to bring death to life.
When men do not forget what can be forgotten but forget what cannot be forgotten - that may be called true forgetting.
The Spirit Tower has its guardian, but unless it understands who its guardian is, it cannot be guarded.
I've heard my teacher say, where there are machines, there are bound to be machine worries; where there are machine worries, there are bound to be machine hearts. With a machine heart in your breast, you've spoiled what was pure and simple; and witho...
But a gentleman may embrace a doctrine without necessarily wearing the garb that goes with it, and he may wear the garb without necessarily comprehending the doctrine.
To forget the whole world is easy; to make the whole world forget you is hard.
Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views - then the world will be governed.
A good completion takes a long time; a bad completion cannot be changed later.
Men all pay homage to what understanding understands, but no one understands enough to rely upon what understanding does not understand and thereby come to understand.
Understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest.
