The Three Principle Texts of Daoism translated by ... - Bad Request

13.By inaction one can become the centre of thought, thefocus of responsibility, the arbiter of wisdom. Fullallowance must be made for others, while remainingunmoved oneself. There must be a thorough compliancewith divine principles, without any manifestationthereof. All of which may be summed up in the one wordpassivity. For the perfect man employs his mind as amirror. It grasps nothing: it refuses nothing. It receives,but does not keep. And thus he can triumph over matter,without injury to himself.14.Every addition to or deviation from nature belongs notto the ultimate perfection of all. He who would attain tosuch perfection never loses sight of the naturalconditions of his existence. With him the joined is notunited, nor the separated apart, nor the long in excess,nor the short wanting. For just as a duck's legs, thoughshort, cannot be lengthened without pain to the duck,and a crane's legs, though long, cannot be shortenedwithout misery to the crane, so that which is long inman's moral nature cannot be cut off, nor that which isshort be lengthened. All sorrow is thus avoided.