(no subject)

[jarick]

Using the measures and regulations of one generation or age to govern the world is like the case of a traveler in a boat who drops his sword in the middle of the river and notches the edge of the boat to mark the spot where the sword fell; then he goes back to the riverbank that evening to look for the sword below the notch on the boat. He is far from knowing what is what.

Huainanzi, the Book of Leadership and Strategy: On State and Society