Chinese Philosophy Series
中国哲学名言 · Zhōngguó zhéxué míngyán
30 Chinese Philosophy Quotes from Confucius, Laozi & Zhuangzi
This reading list brings together 30 carefully selected classical quotations from the Analects, the Tao Te Ching, and the Zhuangzi. Start with the answer in English, then open each entry for Chinese characters, pinyin, source notes, historical background, and modern applications.
30
Featured quotations
A focused starting point for deeper reading.
3
Canonical traditions
Confucian and Daoist source texts.
2026-09-12
Latest content update
Source and translation notes are reviewed over time.
How to read this series
Chinese philosophy is often encountered through short, memorable lines. A single translation can hide the difference between a quotation from a canonical text, a later idiom, and a modern slogan. We therefore keep the Chinese text, pinyin, source label, and English interpretation together on every page.
Use the collection as a guided path: begin with a plain-English answer, compare the literal wording with the natural translation, and then read the historical and practical sections. Where an attribution is uncertain or a phrase is commonly misquoted, the entry says so instead of presenting a neat but unsupported origin story.
Downloadable study resource
For offline study, download the free Chinese Proverbs Collection PDF. The PDF is a compact reference; each canonical page remains the best place to find expanded explanations, links, and corrections.
Featured reading list
Chinese characters, pinyin, English meaning, and source context.
知足常乐
Zhī zú cháng lè
"Know contentment, and happiness stays — lasting joy comes from knowing what is enough"
Read Zhi Zu Chang Le — Contentment Brings Lasting Happiness meaning
螳臂当车
Táng bì dāng chē
"The mantis raises its arm to block the chariot"
Read The Mantis Raises Its Arm to Block the Chariot meaning
庖丁解牛
Páo Dīng jiě niú
"Cook Ding carving an ox"
Read Cook Ding Carving the Ox meaning
游刃有余
Yóu rèn yǒu yú
"Wielding the blade with surplus room"
Read Moving the Blade with Room to Spare meaning
得鱼忘筌
Dé yú wàng quán
"Catch the fish, forget the trap"
Read Get the Fish, Forget the Trap meaning
相濡以沫，不如相忘于江湖
Xiāng rǔ yǐ mò, bù rú xiāng wàng yú jiāng hú
"Wetting each other with spit is not as good as forgetting each other in the rivers and lakes"
Read Better to Forget Each Other in the Rivers and Lakes Than to Wet Each Other with Spit meaning
坐忘
Zuò wàng
"Sit and forget"
Read Sit and Forget meaning
君子之交淡如水，小人之交甘若醴
Jūnzǐ zhī jiāo dàn rú shuǐ, xiǎorén zhī jiāo gān ruò lǐ
"The friendship of gentlemen is as plain as water; the friendship of petty people is as sweet as wine"
Read Gentleman's Friendship Like Water meaning
每况愈下
Měi kuàng yù xià
"Each time you look, it is worse"
Read Each Time You Look Lower, It Gets Worse meaning
井底之蛙
Jǐng dǐ zhī wā
"The frog at the bottom of the well"
Read The Frog in the Well meaning
夏虫不可以语于冰者，笃于时也
Xià chóng bù kě yǐ yǔ yú bīng zhě, dǔ yú shí yě
"A summer insect cannot be spoken to about ice — it is bound by its season"
Read You Cannot Discuss Ice with a Summer Insect meaning
盗亦有道
Dào yì yǒu dào
"Even thieves have their Dao / their way"
Read Even Thieves Have Their Dao meaning
呆若木鸡
Dāi ruò mù jī
"Dumb/seemed as a wooden chicken"
Read Dumb as a Wooden Chicken meaning
鹏之徙于南冥也，水击三千里，抟扶摇而上者九万里
Péng zhī xǐ yú Nán míng yě, shuǐ jī sān qiān lǐ, tuán fú yáo ér shàng zhě jiǔ wàn lǐ
"When the peng bird journeys to the Southern Darkness, it beats the water for 3,000 li, then rises on the whirlwind 90,000 li"
Read The Kunpeng Soars Ninety Thousand Li meaning
庄周梦蝶
Zhuāng Zhōu mèng dié
"Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly"
Read Zhuangzi Dreaming of Being a Butterfly meaning
白驹过隙
Bái jū guò xì
"A white colt passes a crevice"
Read A White Colt Flashes Past a Crevice meaning
山外有山，人外有人
Shān wài yǒu shān, rén wài yǒu rén
"Beyond mountains, there are more mountains; beyond people, there are more people"
Read Beyond Mountains, More Mountains meaning
入乡随俗
Rù xiāng suí sú
"When you enter a village, follow its customs"
Read Enter Village, Follow Customs meaning
莫逆之交
Mò nì zhī jiāo
"A friendship without opposition or conflict"
Read Friends Without Conflict meaning
人生如梦
Rén shēng rú mèng
"Life is like a dream"
Read Life Is But a Dream meaning
肝胆相照
Gān dǎn xiāng zhào
"Show utter sincerity to one another; treat each other with complete openness"
Read Liver and Gallbladder Illuminating Each Other meaning
江山易改，禀性难移
Jiāng shān yì gǎi, bǐng xìng nán yí
"Rivers and mountains are easy to change; inherent nature is hard to shift"
Read Rivers and Mountains Change Easily, Nature Is Hard to Move meaning
坐井观天
Zuò jǐng guān tiān
"Sitting in a well, looking at the sky"
Read Sit in a Well and Watch the Sky meaning
螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后
Tángláng bǔ chán, huángquè zài hòu
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind"
Read The Mantis Catches the Cicada, the Oriole Waits Behind meaning
朝三暮四
Zhāo sān mù sì
"Three in the morning, four in the evening"
Read Three in the Morning, Four in the Evening meaning
无用之用
Wú yòng zhī yòng
"The use of uselessness"
Read The Usefulness of the Useless meaning
虚船触舟
Xū chuán chù zhōu
"An empty boat drifts into yours — even the most hot-tempered man won't rage at an empty boat"
Read The Empty Boat — Zhuangzi's Guide to Never Getting Angry Again meaning
温故而知新
Wēn gù ér zhī xīn
"Review the old and understand the new"
Read Review the Old, Know the New meaning
知之为知之，不知为不知
Zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bù zhī wéi bù zhī
"To know what you know; to know what you do not know"
Read Know What You Know; Know What You Do Not Know meaning
君子不器
Jūn zǐ bù qì
"The gentleman is not a vessel (a tool, an instrument)"
Read The Gentleman Is Not a Vessel meaning