"Once upon a time, I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now 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. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Taoism
8 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Taoism →
Related Quotes
"The Tao that can be expressed is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be defined is not the unchanging name. Non-ex…"
"The tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be spoken is not the eternal Name. The namele…"
"We believe that the Dudeist tradition started as a response to the excesses of civilization. That was Lao Tzu's deal …"
"According to religious scholar Huston Smith, Taoism has only one basic text, the Tao Te Ching (or, in English, The Wa…"
"Taoism is romantic throughout. Firstly, it stands for the return to nature and the romantic escape from the world, an…"
"Tao mystics never talk about God, reincarnation, heaven, hell. No, they don't talk about these things. These are all …"
"In China Taoism is one of the "three teachings" (along with Buddhism and Confucianism). It took shape only gradually,…"
"違順相爭 是為心病 不識玄旨 徒勞念靜"
"一種不通 兩處失功 遣有沒有 從空背空"
"多言多慮 轉不相應 絕言絕慮 無處不通"