All men know the utility of useful things; but they do not know the utility of futility.

Fish live in water. Men die in it.Nature is diverse, and not all tastes are the same.

A battering ram can knock down a city wall, but it cannot stop a hole. Different things have different uses.

To exercise no-thought and rest in nothing is the first step toward resting in Tao. To start from nowhere and follow no road is the first step toward attaining Tao.

Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.

It is only when the formed learns from the unformed that there is understanding.

When I look at what the world does and where people nowadays believe they can find happiness, I am not sure that that is true happiness. The happiness of these ordinary people seems to consist in slavishly imitating the majority, as if this were their only choice. And yet they all believe they are happy. I cannot decide whether that is happiness or not. Is there such a thing as happiness?