Yes and No

Scott Bradley

Luizi asked Zhouzi, "Is there no time to say 'No!'?"

Zhouzi replied, "Yes!"

"Yes there is, or yes there is not?" asked Luizi.

"Yes there is," answered Zhouzi.

"When is that time?" asked Luizi.

"When all is 'Yes!', replied Zhouzi, "how could there be no room for 'No!'?

"But if all is Yes!, how could there be No!?" persisted Luizi.

"Yes! affirms your No!", answered Zhouzi. "And No! affirms your Yes!; but only when all is Yes!"

"In affirming all that is," Luizi inferred, "I am able to say No! to what is not in harmony with Yes! without straying from Yes!"

"Yes!", answered Zhouzi. "It is thus, as a great sage has said, that we Walk Two Roads. When we have become Yes!, No! finds its proper place."

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