"Fish-hawks gaze at each other with motionless eyes,—and their young are produced. The male of a certain insect chirps with the wind while the female chirps against it,—and their offspring is produced. There is another animal which, being an hermaphrodite, produces its own offspring. Nature cannot be changed. Destiny cannot be altered. Time cannot stop. Tao cannot be obstructed. Once attain to Tao, and there is nothing which you cannot accomplish. Without it, there is nothing which you can accomplish." For three months after this Confucius did not leave his house. Then he again visited Lao Tzŭ and said, "I have attained. Birds lay eggs, fish spawn, insects undergo metamorphosis, and mammals suckle their young. For a long time I have not been enlightened. And he who is not enlightened himself,—how should he enlighten others?" Lao Tzŭ said, "Ch'iu, you have attained!"

When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided attention to the...

He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize...

All things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowing operation. They receive their forms according to the nature of each, and are...