The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand."

"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

I WANT TO BE A PENCIL!!
Unknown "My Sage" Curious - 15 years, 11 months, 27 days ago

Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.
Unknown "My Sage" Curious - 15 years, 11 months, 28 days ago

On the way to Song, Yang meets a man at the twon of Ni, who has two wives. One is pretty and the other plain. Yet he favors the plain wife. So Yang asks he why?
The man answers:
"The pretty one knows she is pretty. I don't.
The plain one knows she is plain. I don't.
A bad person knows he is bad. I don't."
Yang says:
"I shall remember the lesson.
The Saint behaves as a Saint, by his own volition."
Unknown "My Sage" Curious - 16 years, 16 days ago

Once a zookeeper said to his monkeys: "You'll get 3 bananas in the Morning and 4 in the afternoon."
All monkeys are upset.
"OK. How about 4 bananas in Morning and 3 in the afternoon?"
Hearing this, the monkeys are content.
One should realize that sometimes a change in phrasing does not represent a real change.
Unknown "My Sage" Curious - 16 years, 16 days ago

One day about sunset, Zhuangzi dozed off and dreamed that he turned into a butterfly.

He flapped his wings and sure enough he was a butterfly...

What a joyfull feeling as he fluttered about, he completely forgot that he was Zhuangzi.

Soon though, he realized that that proud butterfly was really Zhuangzi who dreamed he was a butterfly, or was it a butterfly who dreamed he was Zhuangzi!

Maybe Zhuangzi was the butterfly, and maybe the butterfly was Zhungzi?
Unknown "My Sage" Curious - 16 years, 16 days ago