Wisdom, short texts

Letter to Jules Supervielle, February 1940 (extract)

(...) I read a lot of Chinese. Here is a story from Lie-Tseu: Hoeng asked Doctor Tsou: "Will you cure me? I don't know what is happening to me. I confuse praise with reproaches. Gain and loss are the same to me. I do not rejoice in my good health, I do not grieve over my illnesses. So that it has become difficult for me to live with my family and serve my prince." Tsou placed it in the sun, looked at it through transparency, and exclaimed: "I see! You have six completely free openings of the heart, and the 7th is in the process of unblocking! Ah, ah! — What is this 7th opening? asked Hoeng – You are sick, said Tsou, of the wisdom of the wise. All that remains for you to cure is the illusion that you are suffering.”