Gems of Chinese Literature/Chuang Tzŭ-The Perfect Man
The perfect man is like a spirit. Were the ocean to be scorched up, he would not be hot. Were the Milky Way to be fast frozen, he would not feel cold. Of thunder which rives mountains, of wind which lashes the sea, he is not afraid; and thus, charioted on the clouds of heaven, or riding on the sun and moon, he journeys beyond the limits of mortality. Exempt from the changes of life and death, how much more is he beyond the reach of physical injury. The perfect man can walk under water without difficulty; he can touch fire without being burnt.[1]
- ↑ Compare the foolish taunts of Reid and Beattie, who asked Bishop Berkeley why “he did not run his head against a post, walk over precipices, etc.; as, in accordance with his theory, no pain, no broken limbs could result.”―Lewes' Hist. of Philos. II., p. 287.