80 Zhuangzi Quotes (Chuang Tzu) on Life, Knowledge & Taoism

In this post, we’ll read Zhuangzi quotes, who was an influential Chinese philosopher.

Zhuangzi, also known as Chuang Tzu, lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States period.

His most famous quote is:

“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.”

His philosophy emphasized on aligning oneself with the natural flow of the universe (effortless action), human judgments and distinctions are relative and subjective, encouraging acceptance and adapting constant changes in life, and valuing personal freedom and autonomy for a life free from societal constraints and rigid norms.

Zhuangzi, along with Laozi (author of the “Tao Te Ching”), is considered one of the foundational figures of Daoism.

Let’s read some of the best Zhuangzi quotes on life, death, happiness, and more.

Table of Contents

Best Zhuangzi Quotes

1. “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”

2. “Those who count things are not worthy of assisting the people.”

3. Because there is, there is not, and because there is not, there is.”

4. “The little child learns to speak, though it has no learned teachers – because it lives with those who know how to speak.”

5. “Those who realize their folly are not true fools.”

6. “Only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it.”

7. “When the heart is right, “for” and “against” are forgotten.”

8. “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.”

9. “The petty thief is imprisoned but the big thief becomes a feudal lord.”

10. “Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious.”

11. “Where is that man who has forgotten words that I may have a word with him?”

12. “Cease striving. Then there will be transformation.”

13. “Don’t go in and hide; don’t come out and shine; stand stock-still in the middle.”

14. “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.”

Zhuangzi Quotes on Life

1. “Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth.”

2. “So it is said, for him who understands Heavenly joy, life is the working of Heaven; death is the transformation of things. In stillness, he and the yin share a single Virtue; in motion, he and the yang share a single flow.”

3. “When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready.”

4. “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?”

5. “Do not use life to give life to death. Do not use death to bring death to life.”

6. “The True Man of ancient times knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hating death. He emerged without delight; he went back in without a fuss. He came briskly, he went briskly, and that was all. He didn’t forget where he began; he didn’t try to find out where he would end. He received something and took pleasure in it; he forgot about it and handed it back again.”

7. “How do I know that the dead don’t regret the way they used to cling to life?”

8. “Life, death, preservation, loss, failure, success, poverty, riches, worthiness, unworthiness, slander, fame, hunger, thirst, cold, heat – these are the alternations of the world, the workings of fate. Day and night they change place before us, and wisdom cannot spy out their source. Therefore, they should not be enough to destroy your harmony; they should not be allowed to enter the storehouse of the spirit. If you can harmonize and delight in them, master them and never be at a loss for joy; if you can do this day and night without break and make it be spring with everything, mingling with all and creating the moment within your own mind – this is what I call being whole in power.”

9. “He who knows he is a fool is not the biggest fool; he who knows he is confused is not in the worst confusion. The man in the worst confusion will end his life without ever getting straightened out; the biggest fool will end his life without ever seeing the light. If three men are traveling along and one is confused, they will still get where they are going – because confusion is in the minority. But if two of them are confused, then they can walk until they are exhausted and never get anywhere – because confusion is in the majority.”

10. “The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.”

Zhuangzi Quotes on Happiness

1. “Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.”

2. “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.”

3. “I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river.”

4. “The fact is that those who do not see themselves but who see others, who fail to get a grasp of themselves but who grasp others, take possession of what others have but fail to possess themselves. They are attracted to what others enjoy but fail to find enjoyment in themselves.”

Zhuangzi Quotes on Mind

1. “To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders.”

2. “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.”

3. “Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”

4. “The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror – going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing.”

5. “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.”

6. “The sage is still not because he takes stillness to be good and therefore is still. The ten thousand things are insufficient to distract his mind – that is the reason he is still.”

7. “Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.”

Zhuangzi Quotes on Self

1. “The man who has forgotten self may be said to have entered Heaven.”

2. “When a man does not dwell in self, then things will of themselves reveal their forms to him. His movement is like that of water, his stillness like that of a mirror, his responses like those of an echo.”

3. “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 is within him will not be ashamed because he holds no position in society.”

4. “If a man crosses a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, even though he be bad tempered man, he will not become very angry.But if he sees a man in the boat, he will shout at him to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, he will shout again, and yet again, and begin cursing. And all because someone is in the boat. Yet if the boat were empty, he would not be shouting, and not angry. If you can empty your own boat, crossing the river of the world, no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you.”

5. “The baby looks at things all day without winking; that is because his eyes are not focused on any particular object. He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself within the surroundings and moves along with it. These are the principles of mental hygiene.”

6. “If you’d called me an ox, I’d have said I was an ox; if you’d called me a horse, I’d have said I was a horse. If the reality is there and you refuse to accept the name men give it, you’ll only lay yourself open to double harassment.”

Zhuangzi Quotes on Knowledge

1. “Life is finite, While knowledge is infinite.”

2. “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.”

3. “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.”

4. “To be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.”

5. “Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.”

6. “Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.”

7. “Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.”

Zhuangzi Quotes on Taoism

1. “Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.”

2. “A frog in a well cannot discuss the ocean, because he is limited by the size of his well. A summer insect cannot discuss ice, because it knows only its own season. A narrow-minded scholar cannot discuss the Tao, because he is constrained by his teachings. Now you have come out of your banks and seen the Great Ocean. You now know your own inferiority, so it is now possible to discuss great principles with you.”

3. “When affirmation and negation came into being, Tao faded. After Tao faded, then came one-sided attachments.”

4. “Words are not just wind. Words have something to say. But if what they have to say is not fixed, then do they really say something? Or do they say nothing? People suppose that words are different from the peeps of baby birds, but is there any difference, or isn’t there? What does the Way rely upon, that we have true and false? What do words rely upon, that we have right and wrong? How can the Way go away and not exist? How can words exist and not be acceptable? When the Way relies on little accomplishments and words reply on vain show, then we have rights and wrongs of the Confucians and the Mo-ists. What one calls right the other calls wrong; what one calls wrong the other calls right. But if we want to right their wrongs and wrong their rights, then the best to use is clarity.”

Philosophical Zhuangzi Quotes

1. “For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.”

2. “Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the masses. And now, as the world is in error, how shall I, though I know the true path, how shall I guide? If I know that I cannot succeed and yet try to force success, this world would be but another source of error. Better then to desist and strive no more. But if I do not strive, who will?”

3. “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.”

4. “Understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest.”

5. “In the midst of darkness, he alone sees the dawn; in the midst of the soundless, he alone hears harmony.”

6. “All attempts to create something admirable are the weapons of evil. You may think you are practising benevolence and righteousness, but in effect you will be creating a kind of artificiality. Where a model exists, copies will be made of it; where success has been gained, boasting follows; where debate exists, there will be outbreaks of hostility.”

7. “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.”

8. “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?”

9. “All men know the use of the useful, but nobody knows the use of the useless!”

10. “We are born from a quiet sleep, and we die to a calm awakening.”

11. “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.”

Wisdom Zhuangzi Quotes

1. “Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?”

2. “We can’t expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums. And blindness and deafness are not confined to the body alone – the understanding has them, too.”

3. “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.”

4. “Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.”

5. “Eyes that are blind have no way to tell the loveliness of faces and features; eyes with no pupils have no way to tell the beauty of colored and embroidered silks.”

6. “Moreover, I have heard that those who are fond of praising men to their faces are also fond of damning them behind their backs.”

7. “Don’t you know about the praying mantis that waved its arms angrily in front of an approaching carriage, unaware that they were incapable of stopping it? Such was the high opinion it had of its talents.”

8. “All existing things are really one. We regard those that are beautiful and rare as valuable, and those that are ugly as foul and rotten The foul and rotten may come to be transformed into what is rare and valuable, and the rare and valuable into what is foul and rotten.”

9. “To forget the whole world is easy; to make the whole world forget you is hard.”

10. “Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!”

11. “Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings but contemplate their return.”

12. “If you don’t realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow.”

13. “You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless.”

14. “The one-legged creature is envious of the millipede; the millipede is envious of the snake; the snake is envious of the wind; the wind is envious of the eye; the eye is envious of the heart.”

15. “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.”

These Zhuangzi quotes place emphasis on spontaneity, naturalness, and the questioning of rigid structures in life.

His ideas have had a great impact on Chinese philosophy, literature, and culture as his influence extends to later Daoist thinkers, as well as to Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism.

Which of these Zhuangzi quotes is your favourite?

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