Don't wish it went your way. Want it the way it goes, and flow.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 8
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Ocean and water quotes
The river you cannot step in twice, the headland the waves break on, and the water that wins by yielding.
- Don't wish it went your way. Want it the way it goes, and flow.Epictetus
- Down with the whirl, up with the surge. Follow the water's way.Zhuangzi
- New sand covers old sand. So goes fame.Marcus Aurelius
- Never be surprised by a headwind.Marcus Aurelius
- No beach house needed. Retreat into yourself.Marcus Aurelius
- The highest good is like water.Lao Tzu
- Don't talk ocean with a frog in a well.Zhuangzi
- Get out of my sun.Diogenes
- Let muddy water sit still and it clears.Lao Tzu
- Shipwrecked? Best voyage I ever made.Zeno of Citium
- An empty boat hits yours and you don't get mad. Be the empty boat.Zhuangzi
- Same river, never the same water.Heraclitus
Wear them
Down with the whirl, up with the surge. Follow the water's way.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 19 (The Full Understanding of Life)
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New sand covers old sand. So goes fame.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.34
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Never be surprised by a headwind.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.15
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No beach house needed. Retreat into yourself.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3
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The highest good is like water.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 8
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Don't talk ocean with a frog in a well.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 17 (The Floods of Autumn)
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Get out of my sun.
Diogenes, Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6
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All 89
89 lines
Never be surprised by a headwind.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.15
Same river, never the same water.
Heraclitus, Fragment 41-42
Don't wish it went your way. Want it the way it goes, and flow.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 8
Diogenes, Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6
ΚΑΙΡΟΝ ΓΝΩΘΙ
Pittacus, Diogenes Laertius, Lives 1
上善若水
The highest good is like water.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 8
Drop the story. Round the point. Find the flat bay.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.22
No beach house needed. Retreat into yourself.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3
Down with the whirl, up with the surge. Follow the water's way.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 19 (The Full Understanding of Life)
Shipwrecked? Best voyage I ever made.
Zeno of Citium, Diogenes Laertius 7.4
An empty boat hits yours and you don't get mad. Be the empty boat.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 20 (The Tree on the Mountain)
Don't talk ocean with a frog in a well.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 17 (The Floods of Autumn)
Caught in the storm? You still steer your own mind.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.14
Be the headland. Let the waves break.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.49
New sand covers old sand. So goes fame.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.34
Let muddy water sit still and it clears.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 15
Cold warms. Heat cools. Wet dries. Dry gets wet.
Heraclitus, Fragment B126 (Diels-Kranz)
Green grape, ripe bunch, raisin. Not an end. A change.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.35
Water helps everything and fights nothing.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 8
Socrates, Diogenes Laertius 2.36
Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings, Earth (Rhythm in Strategy)
The truly brave stay calm. They laugh at storms.
Nitobe Inazo, Bushido, ch. 4 (Courage, the Spirit of Daring and Bearing)
Push the thought away and be flat calm.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.2
The softest thing in the world rides down the hardest.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 43
Questions
- Where do these ocean and water quotes come from?
- Each of the 89 lines links to its own page with the book and passage it comes from, the original-language wording and how it was translated. Nothing is attributed without a source.
- Can I get these quotes on a shirt?
- Yes. 8 of them are printed on our tees and caps, with the Spartan Surfers helmet and our coordinates on every piece. 2 pieces 10% off, 3 pieces 15%, 4 or more 20%. Free US shipping on everything.