Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

Manure-worms are dirty, and yet they transform themselves into cicadas, which drink dew in the autumnal wind. Decayed grasses are not bright, and yet they give birth to glow-worms, whose luster matches the summer moon. Hence we know that cleanliness often comes from filth and brilliance from gloom.