"The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not."
"When he tries to extend his power over objects, those objects gain control of him. He who is controlled by objects loses possession of his inner self... Prisoners in the world of object, they have no choice but to submit to the demands of matter! They are pressed down and crushed by external forces: fashion, the market, events, public opinion. Never in a whole lifetime do they recover their right mind!... What a pity!"
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Source: Zhuangzi, Gia-fu Feng (1974). “Chuang tsu: Inner chapters”, Vintage
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