天論

Heaven's operations have constancy: they do not persist for the sake of Yao, nor cease for the sake of Jie. Respond to them with good governance, and the result is auspicious; respond with disorder, and the result is calamitous. Strengthen the fundamentals and economize on expenditure, and Heaven cannot make you poor. Prepare your provisions and act at the proper time, and Heaven cannot make you ill. Cultivate the Way without deviation, and Heaven cannot bring you misfortune. Therefore flood and drought cannot cause famine, cold and heat cannot cause sickness, and uncanny omens cannot cause calamity. But neglect the fundamentals and spend extravagantly, and Heaven cannot make you rich. Skimp on provisions and rarely stir, and Heaven cannot keep you whole. Turn your back on the Way and act recklessly, and Heaven cannot grant you good fortune. Therefore one who is clear about the division between Heaven and humankind may be called the consummate person.

To exalt Heaven and contemplate it — how can this compare with taming it as a thing and regulating it? To follow Heaven and praise it — how can this compare with regulating Heaven's mandate and employing it? To gaze at the seasons and await them — how can this compare with responding to the seasons and putting them to use? To rely on things and multiply them — how can this compare with deploying ability and transforming them? To contemplate things and regard them as things — how can this compare with ordering things and not losing them? To wish for what makes things come into being — how can this compare with possessing what makes things come to completion? Therefore to set aside human effort and contemplate Heaven is to lose the true nature of the myriad things.