Mencius 孟子
4th century BC · Zou, Warring States China · A story told to show that vital spirit cannot be forced. He adds: "Few in the world do not help their seedlings grow."
There was a man of Song who, grieved that his seedlings were not growing, pulled them up a little. He came home worn out and told his family, "I am tired today. I have been helping the seedlings grow." His son ran out to look, and the seedlings had withered.
宋人有閔其苗之不長而揠之者，芒芒然歸。謂其人曰：「今日病矣，予助苗長矣。」其子趨而往視之，苗則槁矣。Mencius, Gongsun Chou I
In the same thread
Samuel Smiles
1859 · Scotland · London
“HEAVEN helps those who help themselves” is a well-tried maxim, embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience.
Self-Help, the first sentence
Walt Whitman
1855 · United States
I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
"Song of Myself," in Leaves of Grass
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us