The Chinese sage on animal life, at Lapham’s Quarterly:
Fish can live in water quite contentedly, but if people try it, they die, for different beings need different contexts that are right and proper for them. This is why the ancient sages never expected just one response from the rest of the creatures nor tried to make them conform. Titles should not be overstretched in trying to capture reality, and ideas should be only applied when appropriate, for this is not only sensible, it will bring good fortune.
Liezi was following the Dao, and one day he was eating by the roadside and saw a hundred-year-old skull, which he pulled clear of the weeds and addressed, saying, “Just you and I know that you never died nor were you ever born. Does this distress you? Do I really enjoy myself?”
Why people are so sure they get it, or have no wonder at it, is as big a mystery to me as the mystery itself.