Favorite Quote, VII

Master Easturb inquired of Master Chuang, saying, "Where is the so-called Way present?"
"There's no place that it is not present," said Master Chuang.
"Give me an example so that I can get an idea," said Master Easturb.
"It's in ants," said Master Chuang.
"How can it be so low?"
"It's in panic grass."
"How can it be lower still?"
"It's in tiles and shards."
"How can it be lower still?"
"It's in shit and piss."

—Victor H. Mair (translator), Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu (Bantam, 1994), p. 217.

Favorite Quote, VI

The highest efficacy is like water.
It is because water benefits everything
Yet vies to dwell in places loathed by the crowd
That it comes nearest to proper way-making.

—Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation, Chapter 8 (Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall, trans.)