Heraclitus Quotes

The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.

The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.

Invisible harmony is better than visible.

Words spoken about the Way have no taste. When looked at, there's not enough to see. When listened to, there's not enough to hear. When used, it is never exhausted.

Express yourself completely, then keep quiet. Be like the forces of nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through. If you open yourself to the Tao, you are at one with the Tao and you can embody it completely. If you open yourself to insight, you are at one with insight and you can use it completely. If you open yourself to loss, you are at one with loss and you can accept it completely. Open yourself to the Tao, then trust your natural responses; and everything will fall into place.

The obscurest sayings of the truly great are often those which contain the germ of the profoundest and most useful truths.

To seek, beneath the universal strife, the hidden harmony of things.

The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace.

There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern.

All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.

I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.

The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao.

Meditation is to be aware of what is going on - in our bodies, in our feelings, in our minds, and in the world. Each day...children die of hunger.... Yet the sunrise is beautiful, and the rose that bloomed this morning along the wall is a miracle. Life is both dreadful and wonderful. To practice meditation is to be in touch with both aspects. Please do not think we must be solemn in order to meditate. In fact, to meditate well, we have to smile a lot.

Life calls not for perfection, but for completeness.

Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are.

Every evil is some good spelt backwards, and in it the wise know how to read Wisdom.

True happiness springs from moderation.

Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility.

The Way lies at hand yet it is sought afar off; the thing lies in the easy yet it is sought in the difficult.

Only the intelligent knows how to identify all things as one. . . . When one is at ease with himself, one is near Tao. This is to let Nature take its own course.

The test of intellect is the refusal to belabor the obvious.

Nature and wisdom always say the same.

My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don't analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being.