Conversations of the Taoist Master Fu Hsiang

Fu Hsiang: In fact, if the child's ability to control his body at will is what makes him say this is his body, then since he can control everything at whim, will he not see everything as part of himself?

Tsia Tung: Yes he would.

Fu Hsiang: But since everything is perceived as part of himself, does the concept of himself have any meaning for him? Since there is nothing that is not him, what sense is there to not-him and hence what sense is there to him?

Tsia Tung: Since there is no contrast to him in his mind, there is no sense of him either in his mind.

Fu Hsiang: Just so; a child who is born with the will to power and who is gifted or cursed with omnipotence cannot form an idea of self and thus cannot become self-conscious.

Tsia Tung: That would seem logical.

Fu Hsiang: So logically again, since children do attain self-consciousness, this must arise from the interaction between their will to power and their lack of omnipotence.