小鸟笑大鹏

有鸟焉,其名为鹏,背若泰山,翼若垂天之云。搏扶羊角而上者九万里，绝云气，负青天，然后图南，且适南冥也。

斥鷃笑之曰：“彼且奚适也？我腾跃而上，不过数仞而下，翱翔蓬蒿之间，此亦飞之至也。而彼且奚适也？”

此小大之辩也。

——《庄子》

The Tomtit and the Giant Roc

There was once a bird called the roc, whose back was as vast as Mount Tai and whose wings were like clouds that overspread the heavens. When it wheeled up into the air a whirlwind arose, and in each flight it covered ninety thousand li, soaring above the misty vapours under the azure sky. Once it was flying southwards to the Southern Ocean.

“Where can it be going?” wondered a tomtit with a laugh. “I leap up scores of feet, then come down to enjoy myself among the bushes. That’s good enough for me. Where else does it want to go?”

Here we see the difference in outlook between great and small

From:Zhuang Zi

(杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)