Jul 30
11. “If my home is poor and my skill unpolished, that is my own fault. If few understand me and no rank arrives, that is no shame. If they mistake jade for stone, or call the phoenix a sparrow, that is their blindness, not my failing. Those who fret for recognition and grieve in obscurity are people of the world. Those who breathe freely and seek nothing are the tranquil of heart. When the time arrives, the Way will act. when the vessel is great, it does not rejoice in use. He who knows destiny has no sorrow beneath Heaven. As for chasing wealth and bargaining for rank, as for trading ten thousand coins to buy the worth of a hundred, losing one’s marrow and heart for trifles. For such I have no time.”
