"Let's go back to the beginning. When you asked 'How do you know the happiness of fish?' you already knew that I knew it when you asked the question. I knew it by standing here on the Hao River."

"The true man of Tao lives as a fish lives in water: he is at home in it, but he does not know it. The true man of Tao lives as a bird lives in the air: he is at home in it, but he does not know it."

"The sage is like a shadow that has no substance, or an echo that has no sound."

"The sage is born without a body, and yet he can walk without stepping."

"The true man of Tao lives in the world, but is not of the world."