The most talented and enthusiastic of intellectuals tend to start out by wanting to serve their country and do great things. Yet for the great poets Liu Zongyuan and Su Dongpo, it was only after they had suffered the intrigue and lying of court life, and repeated setbacks in their careers, arriving at the disappointment of middle age, that they were able to under stand the simple pleasures of nature.
君不見滿腹經綸、一腔熱血的知識份子，原來也都有報國淑世的擔當，柳宗元、蘇東坡，都是在官場遭誣，一貶再貶的流放生涯中，才在哀樂中年，學會了面對愚泉愚溪，喜笑眷慕；享受到江上清風與山間明月的取之不盡，用之不竭。