The trees of the Ox Mountain were once beautiful. But when they were cut down day after day, how could they retain their beauty? And if their roots were nourished by the rain and dew, and new shoots sprang up, then cattle and sheep came to graze, and so it went on. Thus, it was as if they were bare. Seeing them bare, people thought that they had never been beautiful. But was that the nature of the mountain?
— Mencius
Ancient
Confucian philosopher
