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The source

"An empty boat hits yours and you don't get mad. Be the empty boat." Zhuangzi said it in Zhuangzi 20 (The Tree on the Mountain). Translated from the original Chinese by Spartan Surfers.

"有虛船來觸舟,雖有褊心之人,不怒 ... 人能虛己以遊世,其孰能害之?"

Original Chinese, Zhuangzi 20 (The Tree on the Mountain). Chinese: Zhuangzi text via zh.wikisource; chapter title after Legge 1891.

Who said it

Zhuangzi (c. 369–286 BC). Taoist storyteller of the butterfly dream, the useless tree and the cook who never dulled his knife.

Questions

Who said "An empty boat hits yours and you don't get mad. Be the empty boat."?
Zhuangzi (c. 369–286 BC). Source: Zhuangzi 20 (The Tree on the Mountain).
What is the original Chinese?
有虛船來觸舟,雖有褊心之人,不怒 ... 人能虛己以遊世,其孰能害之?. Translated from the original Chinese by Spartan Surfers.
Is "An empty boat hits yours and you don't get mad. Be the empty boat." on a shirt?
Yes. It is printed on our tees, from $46, with free US shipping.

Filed under Water.

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