Category: Confucius Series
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Repeated Mistakes
If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake. – Confucius We are human and therefore imperfect. Being imperfect, we will always make mistakes. It is when we feel the pangs of conscience, guilt, regret or shame, and do not correct our actions, that…
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Principle Profit
“The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.” – Confucius It is important to earn a living and to understand how to earn a profit. How else does one expect to stave off poverty and secure peace of mind through financial security? It is…
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Self Start
“Respect yourself and others will respect you.” – Confucius Everything starts with the self. While things happen to us that are out of our control, we are always in the same starting point – with ourselves. Although we try to control those outside things to change our own fate or…
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Choose Difficulty
“It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.” – Confucius To achieve the best in life, prepare to work hard, struggle, and be…
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Confucius Series: Ripple Effects of the Heart
“To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.” – Confucius…
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Rectify the names
Zilu said: ‘If the Lord of Wei were waiting for you to run the government, what would you give priority to?’ The Master said: “What is necessary is to rectify names, is it not?’ Zilu said: ‘If this were to take place, it would surely be an aberration of yours.…
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Pleasure Scales
“The gentleman cherishes virtue, but the small man cherishes the soil…” – 夫子 Master Kong (Confucius) The Analects 4:11 Do we reach for the high? Or do we reach for the low? The less connection we feel to others, the surrounding world, and ourselves, the easier we will fall to…
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Confucius Series: Humble or Prideful Critique
“A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.” – 夫子 Master Kong (Confucius) The Analects Where do we aim our critique? Do we aim it at others? Or ourselves? We can find fault with others when it is warranted. But what if it isn’t?…
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Confucius Series: Motivation
The Master said: ‘Can one avoid concurring with exemplary sayings? But to make them the basis of self-improvement is considered the most valuable thing. Can one avoid being pleased with blandishments? But to unravel the motivation is considered the most valuable thing. If someone is pleased but does not unravel…
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Confucius Series: Politics
Someone said to Master Kong: ‘Why do you not take part in government?’ The Master said: ‘The Book of Documents mentions filial piety, doesn’t it? “Only be dutiful towards your parents and friendly towards your brothers, and you will be contributing to the existence of government.” These virtues surely constitute…
KEEP THE OLD WARM 