Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.

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

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.

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.

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.

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.

I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?

Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education.

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.

Those who realize their folly are not true fools.

Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth.

Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious.

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

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

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

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

To lead others, one must find one’s own direction.

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

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

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.

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.

Cherish that which is within you and shut off what which is without for much knowledge is a curse.

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.

The sage embraces things. Ordinary men discriminate amongst them and parade their discriminations before others. So I say those who discriminate fail to see.

Easy is right. Begin right and you are easy. Continue easy and you are right. The right way to go easy is to forget the right way and forget that the going is easy.

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

A frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean.

You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog, the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect, the creature of a season.

Human life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. To drive the limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one really knows is fatal indeed!

Take care of your body, then the rest will automatically become stronger.

Men of this world all rejoice in others being like themselves, and object to others not being like themselves.

Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone.

To examine oneself makes good use of sight.

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

Without feeling abashed by my ignorance, I confess that I am absolutely unable to say. In the absence of an appearance of learning, my answer has at least one merit, that of perfect sincerity.

That a great battle must soon be fought no one could doubt; but, in the apparent and perhaps real absence of plan on the part of Lee, it was impossible to foretell the precise scene of the encounter.

Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.

With the absence of a flu vaccination last year, I did not take a flu shot; but there is still some immunity that carries over from year to year; but about every 30 years, there is a major change in the genetics of the flu virus.

And as far as false hope, there is no such thing. There is only hope or the absence of hope-nothing else.

The longest absence is less perilous to love than the terrible trials of incessant proximity.

Life has become the ideology of its own absence.

There is a movement to get an international criminal court in the world, voted for by hundreds of states-but with the noticeable absence of the United States of America.

I wish you to inform the Court that my absence, though deliberate, is not intended in any way to be disrespectful. Nor is it prompted by any fear of the punishment which might be inflicted on me.

Where choice begins, Paradise ends, innocence ends, for what is Paradise but the absence of any need to choose this action?

In the absence of that, I am happy to play solo, but I don't think there is any comparison.

For many Americans, including many who are employed, going to the doctor when they fall ill or become injured may not be an option because of the absence of health insurance.