If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, even though he be a bad-tempered man he will not get angry. But if he sees a man in the boat, he will shout at him to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, he will shout again, and yet again, and begin to curse. And all because there is a man in the boat. If you can empty your own boat, you will not be in conflict with anyone in the world.
— Zhuangzi Ancient

Daoist philosopher

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Details

Context

Zhuangzi (Book 20, The Mountain Tree)

Date / Period

c. 4th century BCE

Category

Humorous

Source

https://terebess.hu/english/zhuangzi.html

Verification

Unverifiable

Explanation

Found in 1 providers: grok

Method

Cross Reference

Sources Checked

1 source

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