| | Zi Liezi said: Heaven and earth have no complete achievements; sages have no all-encompassing abilities; all things have no perfect uses. Therefore, the function of Heaven is to give life and cover; the function of Earth is to shape and bear; the function of sages is to educate and transform; the function of things is what suits them. Thus, Heaven has its shortcomings, Earth has its strengths, sages have their failures, and things have their connections. Why is this so? Those who give life and cover cannot shape and bear; those who shape and bear cannot educate and transform; those who educate and transform cannot go against what suits things; when suitability is fixed, they will not move beyond their positions. Therefore, the principle of Heaven and Earth is not Yin then Yang; the teaching of sages is not benevolence then righteousness; the suitability of all things is not rigidity then flexibility. These are all cases where they follow what suits them but cannot go beyond their positions.
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