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

Chapter 12. Self-Sacrifice And Self-AggrandisementYANG CHU said:“Po-chêng-tse-kao [1] would not part with a hair of hisbody for the benefit of others. He quitted his countryand became a ploughman. The great Yü [2] did not profitby his own body, which grew quite emaciated.“If the ancients by injuring a single hair could haverendered a service to the world, they would not havedone it; and had the universe been offered to a singleperson, he would not have accepted it.“As nobody would damage even a hair, and nobodywould do a favour to the world, the world was in a perfectstate."Ch’in-Tse asked Yang Chu:“If by pulling out a hair of your body you would aidmankind, would you do it?"Yang Chu answered:“Mankind is surely not to be helped by a single hair."