'In one lifetime, a man knows many pleasures. His mother's smile in waking hours, a young woman's intimate touch, and the laughter of grandchildren in the twilight years. To deny these in ourselves is to deny that what makes us one with Nature.'
'Shall we then, seek to satisfy these needs?'
'Only acknowledge them, and satisfaction will follow. To suppress a truth is to give it force beyond endurance.' (Kung Fu 1).
"Is this a representation of a True Word Master, this discussion between Grasshopper and Master Po?"
"It is excellence in itself. It tells you that there is nothing wrong with pleasures, although they are not 'Happiness'. That is the Way. It also tells you that it is a True Word not to run after pleasures like mad. Just let them come and go, as Nature dictates. On the other hand, there is absolutely no need to go and whip yourself, fast and starve, or, as Spencer describes (Sociology), to swing from hooks drawn through your muscles, go up a mountain-path on your knees, etc. in order to make up for sins, or to please some god. That is another Way of mishandling truth, of not controlling self or Reality."