The space under the sky is occupied by all things in their unity.

Do not let the artificial obliterate the natural; do not let will obliterate destiny; do not let virtue be sacrificed to fame.

The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.

True men" ... are strong willed, have dignity in their demeanor, serenity in their expression. They are cool like autumn, warm like spring. Their passions arise like the four seasons, in harmony with the ten thousand creatures, and no one knows their limits.

Study is to study what cannot be studied. Undertaking means undertaking what cannot be undertaken. Philosophizing is to philosophize about what cannot be philosophized about. Knowing that knowing is unknowable is true perfection.

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?

A frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean.