或问：「释氏亦务养心，然要之不可以治天下，何也？」
先生曰：「吾儒养心未尝离却事物，只顺其天则自然，就是功夫。释氏却要尽绝事物，把心看做幻相，渐入虚寂去了，与世间若无些子交涉，所以不可冶天下。」
有人问：「佛家也务养心，然而终究不能治理天下，为什么？」
先生说：「我们儒家养心不曾离开事物，只是顺着天则自然，就是功夫。佛家却要尽绝事物，把心看作幻相，渐渐流入虚寂，与世间好像没有什么交涉，所以不能治理天下。」
Someone asked: 'The Buddhists too nourish the mind — why can they still not govern the world?'
The Master said: 'Our Confucian nourishing of the mind never leaves things: following heaven's rule of itself is the work. The Buddhists would utterly cut off things, taking the mind for illusion, sinking by degrees into void and silence, as if nothing to do with the world — hence they cannot govern it.'