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Nineteen years, thousands of oxen, and the blade still looks new.

Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 3 (Nourishing the Lord of Life)

The source

"Nineteen years, thousands of oxen, and the blade still looks new." Zhuangzi said it in Zhuangzi 3 (Nourishing the Lord of Life). Translated from the original Chinese by Spartan Surfers.

"今臣之刀,十九年矣,所解數千牛矣,而刀刃若新發於硎。"

Original Chinese, Zhuangzi 3 (Nourishing the Lord of Life). Chinese: Zhuangzi text via zh.wikisource; chapter title after Legge 1891.

Who said it

Zhuangzi (c. 369–286 BC). Taoist storyteller of the butterfly dream, the useless tree and the cook who never dulled his knife.

Questions

Who said "Nineteen years, thousands of oxen, and the blade still looks new."?
Zhuangzi (c. 369–286 BC). Source: Zhuangzi 3 (Nourishing the Lord of Life).
What is the original Chinese?
今臣之刀,十九年矣,所解數千牛矣,而刀刃若新發於硎。. Translated from the original Chinese by Spartan Surfers.

Filed under Grit.

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