Trey Smith
Nieh Ch'ueh said, "If you don't know what is profitable or harmful, then does the Perfect Man likewise know nothing of such things?"A lot of the ancient mystics talk of the "perfect man." For me, it's nothing more than a literary device to put forth the concept of an ideal.
Wang Ni replied, "The Perfect Man is godlike. Though the great swamps blaze, they cannot burn him; though the great rivers freeze, they cannot chill him; though swift lightning splits the hills and howling gales shake the sea, they cannot frighten him. A man like this rides the clouds and mist, straddles the sun and moon, and wanders beyond the four seas. Even life and death have no effect on him, much less the rules of profit and loss!"
~ Burton Watson translation ~
In my mind's eye, there are no perfect men or women. Never have been and never will be.
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