Chinese Philosophy Quotes

“For a Westerner, it is usually sufficient for a proposition to be logically sound. For a Chinese it is not sufficient that a proposition be logically correct, but it must be at the same time in accord with human nature.”
― Lin Yutang, My Country And My People

“Most strong-willed people never understand that will alone isn't enough to guarantee their survival. They don't realize that even more so than will, survival depends upon an understanding of people and power”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“A Three pronged test for any belief:
Can it be verified by the sights and senses of common people?
How is it to be applied?
Will it benefit the greatest number?

from Against Fate”
― Mozi, The Mozi: A Complete Translation

“At the moment that the Sun is at its highest, it is setting. At the moment that something is born, it is dying.”
― Hui Shi

“Our lives begin in the everyday and stay in the everyday. Only in the everyday can we begin to create truly great worlds.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

“Our habits limit what we can see, access, sense, and know.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

“But it was strange how shame was something you never became inured to: each time hurt just as much as the first”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Denying desire only made yourself vulnerable to those who were smart enough to see what you couldn't even acknowledge to yourself”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Your path is not set in stone, nor shall it be.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Confucian traditions teach that all beings stem from one source, the Great Ultimate, and participate in the Great Unity. Ren (love or benevolence) is the essence of all that is good in humanity, and extends across species, as exemplified in the noble person (junzi).”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Animals and World Religions

“What remains, in fact? What else is there still right in front of us but the grass which grows and the mountains which erode, bodies which become heavy and faces which become emaciated, life which fecundates, or becomes exhausted, or rather which, while fecundating, is already starting to become exhausted? And vague expectations that crystallize into feverish passion, or else meetings that become less frequent. Or amorous complicities which, without being confessed, turn into relations of power? Or heroic revolutions which (without our being able to locate when) mutate into the privileges of the Party? Or else the wounds of yesterday which are displaced, buried and condensed, and then transcribe themselves into encrypted representation of dreams - and works which ripen in silence?”
― François Jullien, The Silent Transformations

“Daoism also encourages people to love deeply and live compassionately (ci), to exercise restraint and frugality (jian), to seek harmony, and to practice wuwei (action as nonaction). Daoist precepts speak often and strongly against harming any creature, whether by disturbing their homes or eating their bodies. Guanyin, the most popular Chinese deity, exemplifies deep compassion for all beings. The Zhuangzi highlights basic similarities between humans and anymals, and encourages people to treat all beings with care and respect.”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Animals and World Religions

“Living in a capricious world means accepting that we do not live within a stable moral cosmos that will always reward people for what they do. We should not deny that real tragedies happen. But at the same time, we should always expect to be surprised and learn to work with whatever befalls us. If we continue this work, even when tragedies come our way, we can begin to accept the world as unpredictable and impossible to understand perfectly. And this is where the promise of a capricious world lies; if our world is indeed constantly fragmented and unpredicatable, then it is something we can constantly work on bettering. We can go into each situation resolved to be the best human being we can be, not because of what we'll get our of it, but simply to affect others around us for the better, regardless of the outcome. We can cultivate our better sides and face this unpredicatble world, transforming as we go.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

“人類是在不製造敵人的情況下做愛的藝術”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“Would you take an injured fox to your breast and not expect a bite”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Why insist on chasing the shadow of something lost, when you could make something new and even greater”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“Don't look down as you're flying, or you'll realize the impossibility of it and fall”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“A fish may not drink from a river without at first breathing in air.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Fight with the outlook of peace.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“No journey starts from home.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Be still if the river runs deep and wide.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“The sword is not meant for one who is lost in the reflection of beauty.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Do not hide death behind closed eyes of the mind.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“To return home is to find where you were once born into the world.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Your feet may follow a path, but it is the colours of the rainbow which will guide you.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“To sink, is to walk on air in a bubble of water.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Çin’in klasik düşünürleri, beylikler döneminde, beylikler arasındaki şiddetin sıradanlaştığı, tek bir birleştirici lidere yönelik özlemle nitelenen bir dönemde ortaya çıkıyorlar. Kimilerine göre, onlar kendi görüşlerini geliştirmekten çok, dönemlerinin toplumsal eğilimlerini yansıtıyorlar. Dolayısıyla, soyutlamayı düşünce sistematiklerinin merkezine yerleştiren klasik Yunan düşünürlerinin tersine, klasik Çinli düşünürler, günlük yaşamla daha çok iç içeler.
Klasik Çin felsefecilerinden Mencius’a (Meng Usta, Üstad Meng) göre insan, özünde iyidir. O, insandaki iyilik eğilimini yukarıdan aşağıya akan bir ırmağa benzetir. İnsan da akan su gibi doğal olarak iyiliğe yönelmektedir. Ancak onu toplumsal koşullar bozar. Bu nedenle devlete büyük bir görev düşmektedir. İnsanı kötülüğe sürükleyenler, ekonomik sorunlardır. Demek ki o zaman, devletin önceliği eğitim değil istihdam olacaktır.”
― Ulaş Başar Gezgin, Çifte Ejderhanın Diyarında-1: Çin

“There was something that finished chaos, Born before Heaven and Earth. So silent and still! So pure and deep! It stands alone and immutable, Ever-present and inexhaustible. It can be called the mother of the whole world. I do not know its name. I call it the Way. For the lack of better words I call it great.”
― Stefan Stenudd, Tao Te Ching: The Taoism of Lao Tzu Explained

“Order and chaos are the yang and yin of the famous Taoist symbol: two serpents, head to tail. Order is the white, masculine serpent; Chaos, its black, feminine counterpart. The black dot in the white—and the white in the black—indicate the possibility of transformation: just when things seem secure, the unknown can loom, unexpectedly and large. Conversely, just when everything seems lost, new order can emerge from catastrophe and chaos. For the Taoists, meaning is to be found on the border between the ever-entwined pair. To walk that border is to stay on the path of life, the divine Way.”
― Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

“What's wrong with China?" Dr. Frene demanded of me almost immediately, after Nym introduced us. "Why were the Chinese able to invent everything and develop nothing? Why did Chinese civilization undergo a menopause? What happened to China's creative power?"

"Maybe China atrophied because of lack of competition," I suggested weakly.

"Nonsense!" he screamed mildly. "China is a case of stability achieved at the expense of stifling the individual. The society lives but the creative personality dies. Taoistic passivism and fatalism on the one hand, bastard-Confucianism on the other: ancestor-worship, adoration of the male offspring, worship of the phallus! Regimentation of the mind by the classics on the one hand, dissipation of sense power and early and constant cohabitation on the other hand. The mind becomes a perfect mechanical instrument but remains a blank because the senses are dead which should serve and simulate it!”
― Edgar Snow, Journey to the Beginning