来书云：「昔周茂叔每令伯淳寻仲尼、颜子乐处。敢问是乐也，与七情之乐同乎？否乎？若同，则常人之一遂所欲，皆能乐矣，何必圣贤？若别有真乐，则圣贤之遇大忧、大怒、大惊、大惧之事，此乐亦在否乎？且君子之心常存戒惧，是盖终身之忧也，恶得乐？澄平生多闷，未尝见真乐之趣，令切愿寻之。」
乐是心之本体，虽不同于七情之乐，而亦不外于七情之乐；虽则圣贤别有真乐，而亦常人之所同有，但常人有之而不自知，反自求许多忧苦，自加迷弃。虽在忧苦迷弃之中，而此乐又未尝不存，但一念开明，反身而诚，则即此而在矣。每与原静论，无非此意，而原静尚有「何道可得」之问，是犹未免于骑驴觅驴之蔽也。
来信说：「从前周茂叔常让程伯淳寻孔颜乐处。请问这个乐，与七情之乐相同吗？若相同，那么常人一遂所欲都能乐了，何必圣贤？若另有真乐，那么圣贤遇上大忧、大怒、大惊、大惧之事，这个乐还在吗？而且君子之心常存戒惧，这便是终身之忧，哪还能乐？我平生多苦闷，未尝见过真乐的趣味，现在切愿寻得它。」
乐是心的本体。虽不同于七情之乐，而也不外于七情之乐；圣贤虽别有真乐，而也是常人所同有的，只是常人有之而不自知，反而自寻许多忧苦，自己加以迷弃。即使在忧苦迷弃之中，这个乐也未尝不存在，只要一念开明，反身而诚，那么它就在眼前了。每次与原静讨论，无非这个意思，而原静还有「何道可得」之问，这就未免还是有骑驴觅驴的蒙蔽了。
Your letter says: 'Zhou Maoshu used to set Bochun to seek where Confucius and Yan Hui found joy. Is that joy the same as the joy of the seven feelings? If the same, then any common man gratified would know it — why need sages? If a true joy apart, does it survive the sage's meetings with great grief, great anger, great alarm, great fear? And the noble heart ever vigilant — that is lifelong anxiety: where is joy in it? My life has been mostly gloom; I have never tasted true joy, and now I earnestly seek it.'
Joy is the mind's original substance. Unlike the joy of the seven feelings, it is yet not outside them; though sages have a true joy of their own, it is what all people commonly have — only, having it, they do not know it, and instead heap themselves woe and seek it afar, burying and forsaking it. Even amid woe and self-forsaking, this joy never fails to be there: one thought opening bright, turning back on oneself in sincerity — and it is at hand. Every discussion with you, Yuanjing, has been just this; and still you ask by what way it may be had — the veil of riding an ass while searching for an ass.