"Perfect persons use their heart-minds like mirrors—going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing."
— Zhuangzi (4th century BC)
Author
Work Title
Date
c. 300 B.C.
Metaphor
"Perfect persons use their heart-minds like mirrors—going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing."
Metaphor in Context
Do not be an embodier of fame; do not be a storehouse of schemes; do not be an undertaker of projects; do not be a proprieter of wisdom. Embody to the fullest what has no end and wander where there is no trail. Hold on to all that you have received from Heaven but do not think that you have gotten anything. Be tenuous, that is all. Perfect persons use their heart-minds like mirrors—going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing. Therefore they can win out over things and not hurt themselves.
(Chapter 7)
(Chapter 7)
Categories
Provenance
Reading Erin M. Cline. "Mirrors, Minds, and Metaphors," Philosophy East and West 58:3 (2008): 337-357.
Citation
Translation by Eric Cline. Compare Burton Watson, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), p. 142.
Date of Entry
08/19/2013
