Chapter 22, Part 11B - Chuang Tzu

"The sage lives with things but does no harm to them, and he who does no harm to things cannot in turn be harmed by them. Only he who does no harm is qualified to join with other men in `going after' or `welcoming.'

"The mountains and forests, the hills and fields fill us with overflowing delight and we are joyful. Our joy has not ended when grief comes trailing it. We have no way to bar the arrival of grief and joy, no way to prevent them from departing.

"Alas, the men of this world are no more than travelers, stopping now at this inn, now at that, all of them run by `things.' They know the things they happen to encounter, but not those that they have never encountered. They know how to do the things they can do, but they can't do the things they don't know how to do. Not to know, not to be able to do - from these mankind can never escape. And yet there are those who struggle to escape from the inescapable - can you help but pity them?

"Perfect speech is the abandonment of speech; perfect action is the abandonment of action. To be limited to understanding only what is understood - this is shallow indeed!"
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.