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

“Who, having to face the day of disruption, would notbe alarmed?"Master Lieh heard of the discussion, and smilingly said:“He who maintains that Heaven and earth aredestructible, and he who upholds the contrary, are bothequally at fault. Whether they are destructible or not issomething we can never know, though in both cases itwill be the same for all alike. The living and the dead,the going and the coming, know nothing of each other'sstate. Whether destruction awaits the world or no, whyshould I trouble my head about it?"notes[1] The speaker means that though there is no immediate danger of a collapse, it iscertain that our universe must obey the natural law of disintegration, and at somedistant date disappear altogether. But the process of decay will be so gradual as to beimperceptible.Different Sorts of ThievesMR KUO of the Ch'i State was very rich, while MrHsiang of the Sung State was very poor. The lattertravelled from Sung to Ch'i and asked the other for thesecret of his prosperity. Mr Kuo told him, “It is becauseI am a good thief," he said. “The first year I began to bea thief, I had just enough. The second year, I had ample.