# The most famous lines of the Zhuangzi

From 'In the northern darkness there is a fish' to the butterfly dream: the best-known lines of the Zhuangzi, with the chapter each comes from.

- 0 votes · 12 items
- Aug 12, 2021 · respawn_hk
- https://even.best/en/l/2897/the-most-famous-lines-of-the-zhuangzi

## Top 12

1. **Once Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly, fluttering happily about.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'Discussion on Making All Things Equal', the butterfly dream.
2. **In the northern darkness there is a fish, and its name is Kun.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The opening of 'Free and Easy Wandering'.
3. **My life has a limit, but knowledge has none.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'The Secret of Caring for Life'.
4. **You are not a fish; how do you know what fish enjoy?** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'Autumn Floods', the debate on the bridge over the Hao.
5. **Moistening each other with spit is not as good as forgetting each other in the rivers and lakes.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'The Great and Venerable Teacher'.
6. **You cannot talk about the sea to a frog in a well; it is confined to its hole.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'Autumn Floods'.
7. **The friendship of the noble is plain as water; that of petty people is sweet as wine.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'The Mountain Tree'.
8. **Everyone knows the usefulness of the useful, but no one knows the usefulness of the useless.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'In the World of Men'.
9. **The morning mushroom knows nothing of the month; the summer cicada knows nothing of spring and autumn.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'Free and Easy Wandering'.
10. **There is no grief greater than the death of the heart; the death of the body comes second.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'Tian Zifang'.
11. **Human life between heaven and earth is like a white colt glimpsed through a crack: gone in an instant.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'Knowledge Wandered North'.
12. **There is plenty of room for the blade to play about.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 'The Secret of Caring for Life', Cook Ding cutting up an ox.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.