“A person’s proper truth comes from heaven and it operates spontaneously
and steadily. Therefore the sages take
their law from heaven, prize their truth without bowing to the restrictions of
custom. The stupid do the opposite. They
do not take their law from heaven and follow the influences of others. They do not prize inner truth, but are
dominated by ordinary things and waver according to customs.”
“Rites are something created by the vulgar men of
the world; the Truth is that which is received from Heaven. By nature it is the
way it is and cannot be changed. Therefore the sage patterns himself on Heaven,
prizes the Truth, and does not allow himself to be cramped by the vulgar. The
stupid man does the opposite of this. He is unable to pattern himself on Heaven
and instead frets over human concerns. He does not know enough to prize the
Truth but instead, plodding along with the crowd, he allows himself to be
changed by vulgar ways, and so is never content.”
Zhuangzi
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