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> 8 quotes tagged "skill"
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The skilled craftsman doesn't let tools limit him. The proficient chariot driver doesn't depend on special roads.Chuang Tzu, Chapter 19: Mastering Life
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When you bet for tiles in an archery contest, you shoot with skill. When you bet for fancy buckles, you worry about your aim. When you bet for real gold, you're a nervous wreck.Chuang Tzu, Chapter 19: Mastering Life
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When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten. When the belt fits, the belly is forgotten. When the mind is right, both approval and disapproval are forgotten.Chuang Tzu, Chapter 19: Mastering Life
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Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force. They feel no wear, they feel no tear, they need no mending, no repair.Chuang Tzu, Chapter 19: Mastering Life
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When you're betting with tiles, your skill shows. When you're betting with gold, your hands shake. External pressure distorts natural ability.Chuang Tzu, Chapter 19: Mastering Life
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The more the display of ability, the less becomes the power of virtue. Excessive cleverness and technological advancement diminish genuine spiritual power.Huai Nan Tzu, Essay 4
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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
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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