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> 13 quotes tagged "naturalness"

Fame is the follower of reality and comes naturally when disregarded. The frenzy to chase fame often contradicts its organic nature.

Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure, Ch. 19

fame simplicity naturalness
Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, and the people will be benefited a hundredfold. Banish human kindness, discard morality, and the people will be dutiful and compassionate. Give them Simplicity to look at, the Uncarved Black to hold, give them selflessness and fewness of desires.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 19

simplicity uncarved-block desires wisdom
To be always talking is against nature. For the same reason a hurricane never lasts a whole morning, nor a rainstorm all day. Who is it that makes the wind and rain? It is Heaven-and Earth. And if even Heaven-and Earth cannot blow or pour for long, how much less in his utterance should man?

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 23

nature brevity silence naturalness
Those that would gain what is under heaven by tampering with it - I have seen that they do not succeed. For that which is under heaven is like a holy vessel, dangerous to tamper with. Those that tamper with it, harm it. Those that grab at it, lose it. Therefore the Sage discards the absolute, the all-inclusive, the extreme.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 29

non-interference holy-vessel moderation letting-go
No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time: he is like a steel bridge without flexibility, and the order of his life is rigid and brittle.

Alan Watts

balance paradox flexibility wisdom
What happens if you know that there is nothing you can do to be better? It's kind of a relief, isn't it? You say 'Well, now what do I do?' When you are freed from being out to improve yourself, your own nature will begin to take over.

Alan Watts

acceptance wu-wei naturalness practice
People who exude love are apt to give things away. They are in every way like rivers; they stream. And so when they collect possessions and things they like, they are apt to give them to other people. Because, have you ever noticed that when you start giving things away, you keep getting more?

Alan Watts

love generosity wisdom naturalness
Life and love generate effort, but effort will not generate them. Faith in life, in other people, and in oneself, is the attitude of allowing the spontaneous to be spontaneous, in its own way and in its own time.

Alan Watts

love acceptance naturalness wisdom
Prince Hui's cook was cutting up an ox. Every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet was in perfect rhythm — like the dance of the Mulberry Grove. 'I work with my mind and not with my eye,' he said. 'My mind works along without the control of the senses. Falling back upon eternal principles, I glide through the great joints as they are. A good cook changes his chopper once a year — because he cuts. An ordinary cook, once a month — because he hacks. I have used this chopper for nineteen years, yet its edge is still as keen as if fresh from the grindstone. Because I always work in accordance with the natural constitution of the animal.'

Chuang Tzu, Chapter 3 – The Secret of Caring for Life

flow wu-wei skill naturalness
Confucius saw an old man swimming at the Lüliang waterfall — the current violent enough to drown fish and turtles. He sent a disciple to help. But the man came out singing. 'How do you do it?' Confucius asked. 'I go under with the whirls and come up with the eddies,' said the man. 'I follow along with the way of the water and do not impose my own selfish wishes upon it. This is how I stay afloat.'

Chuang Tzu, Chapter 19 – Mastering Life

flow naturalness water wu-wei
Duke Huan was reading when Wheelwright Pian put down his chisel and asked: 'What are you reading?' 'The words of the sages.' 'Are they alive?' 'Dead.' 'Then you are reading nothing but their dregs. When I chisel a wheel — too slow, the chisel slides; too fast, it jams. The right pace comes from the hand and is felt in the mind. It cannot be put into words. There is an art to it I cannot teach my own son, and which he cannot learn from me. So here I am, seventy years old, still chiseling wheels.'

Chuang Tzu, Chapter 13 – The Way of Heaven

flow skill beyond-words chuang-tzu
Man follows earth. Earth follows heaven. Heaven follows the Tao. The Tao follows what is natural.

Tao Te Ching – Chapter 25

flow naturalness tao tao-te-ching
Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

Zen proverb

flow naturalness zen-koan practice