Pierre
Charron once wrote that pleasure and pain, though directly opposite are
contrived to be constant companions. There is nothing contrived however. It is
the natural law of yin and yang, most definitely not something that is
contrived. Long and short, hot and cold, life and death, are joined together
this way. The same eyes that can witness laughter and joy, can cry with pain.
Such is the way. It is often that just when things are going good, something
comes along to disrupt our pleasure. Conversely, when things are bleak, a bolt
of good fortune will come from the clouds. It is told in verse 2 of the Tao Te
Ching that yang lies within yin, and yin lies within yang. One holds hands with
the other.
