When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu QUOTES

1 " This is one of the subtle things to be understood. We are always wise if we have to advise others but when we are in the same trap, with the same problem, the same crisis, we are not so wise. If somebody else comes to you with a problem, you will give him good advice and the advice may be right. But if you have the same problem you will not be able to give yourself the same advice. Why? Because when it is somebody else’s problem you are detached. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

2 " In every relationship, you can always see the ego of the other, but you cannot see your own – and the other one goes on seeing your ego. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

3 " A man of wisdom always looks at every problem from the other’s point of view also. You cannot be wise if you have only one point of view. Sometimes try to stand in others’ shoes and just look from there. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

4 " A man of wisdom always looks at every problem from the other’s point of view also. You cannot be wise if you have only one point of view. Sometimes try to stand in others’ shoes and just look from there.

And if you can understand the other, you will be able to understand yourself more. The other always sees that you are an egoist. You never see it, you are blind to yourself. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

5 " Life is a mystery, not a riddle. It has to be lived, not solved. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

6 " In the old days prime ministers were not chosen by the vote of the people, because how can you choose by the vote of the people? How can people choose their leaders? They would like to, but they are not capable. Democracy is just a dream, it has not happened anywhere – it cannot happen. And wherever it happens it creates trouble; the medicine proves more dangerous than the disease itself. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

7 " Meaning comes from the unknown, from the stranger, from the unpredictable that suddenly knocks at your door — a flower that suddenly blooms and you never expected it; a friend that suddenly happens to be on the street you were not waiting for; a love that blooms suddenly and you were not even aware that this was going to happen, you had not even imagined, not even dreamed. Then life has meaning. Then life has a dance. Then every step is happy because it is not a step filled with duty, it is a step moving into the unknown. The river is going towards the sea. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

8 " Desires are very cunning and complex. You are frustrated, but not because of needs. You are frustrated because of desires. And if desires take too much of your energy you will be unable to fulfill your needs also, because who is there to fulfill them? You are moving into the future; you are thinking of the future; your mind is dreaming. Who is there to fulfill ordinary needs of the day? You are not there. And you would like to remain hungry but reach the horizon. You would like to postpone needs so that the whole energy moves towards the desire. But in the end, you find that the desire is not fulfilled, and because needs have been neglected, in the end you are just a ruin. And the time that is lost cannot be regained; you cannot go back. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

9 " There is a story told of one old wise man, whose name was Mencius. He was a follower of Confucius and he died when he was very, very old. Somebody asked him: If you were given life again, how will you start it? Said Mencius: I will pay more attention to my needs and less attention to my desires. And this realisation will come to you also. But it always comes very late and then life is no more in your hands. If you were given life again.... "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

10 " Needs can be fulfilled, but desires cannot be. Desire is a need gone mad. Needs are simple, they come from nature; desires are very complex they don’t come from nature. They are created by the mind. Needs are moment to moment, they are created out of life itself. Desires are not moment to moment, they are always for the future. They are not created by life itself, they are projected by the mind. Desires are projections, they are not really needs. This is the first thing to be understood, and the deeper you understand, the better. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

11 " DO! Don’t be concerned about what you are doing – do it so wholeheartedly that the very doing becomes a bliss. And don’t think of great things, there is no such thing as great or small. Don’t think that you are to do great things, play great music, paint great paintings, that you are to become a Picasso or a Van Gogh, or something else – a great writer, a Shakespeare, or a Milton. There is nothing – no great things, no small things. There are great men and small men but things are not great and small. And a great man is one who brings his greatness to every small thing that he is doing: he eats in a great way, he walks in a great way, he sleeps in a great way. He brings the quality of greatness to everything.
And what is greatness? Nature.... Nothing is greater than nature. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

12 " Now everything is done by machines, technology has relieved you of much work. What to do? You become aggressive, you fight, you get angry. Without any reason or rhyme, you become angry – suddenly you flare up. Everybody knows that this is foolish, even you in your cooler moments know that that was foolish. But why did you flare up unnecessarily? The excuse was not enough. The real reason is not that there was some situation; the real reason is you have so much energy, so much petrol overflowing, inflammable, that any moment it can be active. That is why after anger you feel relaxed, after anger you feel a little well-being coming to you. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

13 " Don’t help anybody’s expectation of you to grow. Don’t even give them a hint that you will fulfill it. Whatsoever suffering you pass through, be ready to pass through it, but don’t allow others to have expectations about you. Otherwise the world will close you in and there will be imprisonment. Once you nod yes to doing something, then you are closed in. You are in the tunnel already, and now with every step, every new act, you will fall into a new misery, new unfulfillment, new lies, new failures. Drop fulfilling others’ expectations, and drop expecting others to fulfill yours. Remember, if you suffer, you suffer because of you; if others suffer, they suffer because of them. Nobody suffers because of others – remember that deeply. Only then will you be able to be really sincere to your inner self; and that sincerity is religiousness. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

14 " Don’t be worried about the future. Live this moment so totally that the next moment comes out of it golden. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

15 " If you say, ’If those conditions are fulfilled then I will be blissful’, then these conditions are never going to be fulfilled. And, secondly, even if these conditions are fulfilled, by that time you will have lost the very capacity to celebrate and enjoy. And moreover, when these conditions are fulfilled – if ever, because they cannot be fulfilled – your mind will create further ideals. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

16 " There is no need to say: Love, I love you. Let your whole being say it. If you love, it will say it, words are not needed at all. The way that you say it will express it; the way that you move will express it; the way that you look will express it. Your whole being will express it.
Love is such a vital phenomenon that you cannot hide it. Has anybody ever been capable of hiding his love? Nobody can hide it; it is such a fire inside. It glows. Whenever somebody falls in love you can see from his face, from his eyes, that he is no longer the same person – something has transformed him. A fire has happened, a new fragrance has come into his being. He walks with a dancing step; he talks and his very talk has a poetic flavour to it. And not only with his beloved – when you are in love your whole being is transformed. Even talking to a stranger on the street, you are different. And if the stranger has known love in his life he knows that this man is in love. You cannot hide love, it is almost impossible. Nobody has ever been successful in hiding love. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

17 " The longer a person has been dead the greater is the tradition ... If Buddha is alive you can barely tolerate him. ... You cannot believe this man has known the ultimate because he looks just like you ... Hungry he needs food, sleepy he wants a bed, ill, he has to rest – just like you ... That is why Jesus is worshiped now and yet he was crucified when he was alive. Alive, you crucify him; dead, you worship him. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

18 " He has to fight but with no anger. This seems difficult, because you even love with anger, yet he has to fight without anger. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

19 " Action done totally brings relaxation; relaxation done totally brings more action. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu

20 " Your life is enough, don’t be concerned with others. And I tell you that if you can live unconcerned your life will flower, and then others can share in it. You would like to share, and you can give much to others, but first you must stop thinking about others and what they are thinking about you. "

― Osho , When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu