The Sage of the Eastern Mountain spoke:

In the garden of ten thousand possibilities, he who takes a seedling from the emperor’s own thief may find his name written in gold for a hundred generations. Yet what appears as theft to the morning eye becomes wisdom to the evening mind.

Consider the humble water beetle who, seeing the lotus leaf float, made its own vessel. Did it steal the lotus’s secret, or did it honor the flower’s teaching by carrying new life across still waters? The merchants of the southern shores cry “Thief!” while the northern kingdoms celebrate innovation.

As the ancient text reminds us: “The river does not apologize to the cloud for borrowing its water, if it returns it to the sky with interest.”

Thus the wise one knows: When the student surpasses the master’s technique, adding his own brush strokes to make the painting greater, is this theft or tribute? The answer lies not in the taking, but in what new gifts are returned to the world.

Remember: The falcon who first stole fire from the sun was cursed by day, but blessed by night – for though he took one flame, he gave warmth to all humanity.

So it is in the marketplace of ideas: Yesterday’s forbidden knowledge becomes tomorrow’s shared wisdom. The distinction between piracy and progress is written not in stone, but in water – flowing, changing, ever-moving with time’s own tide.

Let he who would judge first count not what was taken, but what was created anew.