I have a sentence, I cannot make sense out of it :-(

[j__diamond]

The cow goes slowly, but Mother-Earth is patient. Incidentally, the lake is not-at-all burning.

[gene]

J

Where does this quote come from?

Gene

[willow]

I looked through the Wilhelm cow references & didn't see anything. With a stretch, it might be someone's interpretation of #49, line 1. There's a cow there, and the revolution hasn't quite gotten underway yet (the lake is not yet burning?). Maybe "proceed with the utmost restraint, don't go starting any revolutions, because you don't need to, the natural course of things will reach the same end in due time."

[hilary]

This quote's been discussed at the zen forum, too - it's just the kind of thing they like there.

All I can contribute is a Swiss expression sent to me the other day by a French friend (and author of a Yi book): 'Y a pas le feu au lac': the lake isn't on fire. It means, so far as I can tell, that there's no hurry.

[louise]

I thought it was posted by someone just taking the ----, infact I'm pretty sure it was.