The sage is still not because he takes stillness to be good and therefore is still. The ten thousand things are insufficient to distract his mind - that is the reason he is still.

Zhuangzi
About This Quote

The sage is still because he takes stillness to be good. This idea is in alignment with what was said in the previous quote. The sage takes stillness to be good. He doesn’t take it for granted, though.

He understands that when things are quiet, people are more likely to think, which is what the two quotes are saying. When there are many things happening, people are distracted by them and they can’t focus on any one thing, no matter how important it might be. The sage takes the time to think about what is really important.

Source: The Complete Works Of Chuang Tzu

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