Zhuangzi

Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.

Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

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

He who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self is not a scholar.

Judges must follow their oaths and do their duty, heedless of editorials, letters, telegrams, threats, petitions, panellists and talk shows.

I do not know whether it was Chou dreaming that he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that it was Chou.

The Universal Harmony records various wonders, and it says: "When the P'eng journeys to the southern darkness, the waters are roiled for three thousand li. He beats the whirlwind and rises ninety thousand li, setting off on the sixth month gale." Wavering heat, bits of dust, living things blowing each other about – the sky looks very blue. Is that its real color, or is it because it is so far away and has no end? When the bird looks down, all he sees is blue too.

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.

It can be passed on, but not received. It can be obtained, but not seen.

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.

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