Duke Huan was reading when Wheelwright Pian put down his chisel and asked: 'What are you reading?' 'The words of the sages.' 'Are they alive?' 'Dead.' 'Then you are reading nothing but their dregs. When I chisel a wheel — too slow, the chisel slides; too fast, it jams. The right pace comes from the hand and is felt in the mind. It cannot be put into words. There is an art to it I cannot teach my own son, and which he cannot learn from me. So here I am, seventy years old, still chiseling wheels.'

Chuang Tzu, Chapter 13 – The Way of Heaven