“If a person has no faith, how can he not know what he can do?”, comes from Chapter 23 of “The Analects of Confucius·Wei Zheng”. That is:

The content of the original text: Confucius said: If a person has no faith, he does not know what is possible? A big cart has no legs and a small cart has no bumps. How can it move?

The main idea of ??the original text: Confucius said: "If a person doesn't keep his word, how can he do it? It's like a big car without a hook and a small car without a hook. How can you walk like that?"

"When making friends, keep your word" comes from Chapter 7 of "The Analects of Confucius·Xueer". That is:

The content of the original text: Zi Xia said: "The virtuous man changes his appearance. He can do his best to serve his parents; he can do his best to serve the king; he can be trustworthy when talking to friends. Although he has not learned it, I must call it learning."

The main idea of ??the original text: Zi Xia said: "Respect worthy people and not value women; serve your parents with all your heart and soul; serve the monarch with selflessness and dedication. spirit; when interacting with friends, you must be honest and trustworthy in your speech. Even if such a person says that he has not learned, I must say that he has learned.”

Original understanding:

1. Understanding of the original text "If a person has no faith, he doesn't know what he can do?"

The original article talks about the principle of "credit". The so-called "a promise worth a thousand dollars" and "a promise worth a thousand dollars" are wise sayings about trustworthiness throughout the ages. Confucius said to Zigong in another place: "Since ancient times, all people have died, and the people will not stand without faith!" ("Yan Yuan") This emphasis on "faith" reminds people of Wen Tianxiang's last words: "Since ancient times, who has no faith? Die and leave your loyalty to history!" Or the Hungarian poet Petofi's poem: "Life is precious, love is more valuable; if it is for freedom, both can be thrown away." It can be seen that saints at all times and at home and abroad have regarded it as "love." "Credit" is as precious as life.

However, what is said the most and emphasized the most is often the biggest problem. Treachery and trustworthiness are like twin brothers for a time. They have traveled through ancient and modern cultural works and crossed the long river of history. They are still with us to this day. Or to be more precise, he said that in today's era of commodity economy, the contradiction between betrayal and trustworthiness has become more and more prominent, and the former is still likely to have the upper hand!

Faced with such a situation, we should write down the sage’s appeal in a big way: people without faith don’t know what to do!

2. Understanding of the original text "When making friends, keep your word."

The original article talks about the principle of "keeping your word" when communicating with friends, which is also the basic principle of human beings. When dealing with friends, you must keep your word. This is because: if a person has no credibility, no matter how talented or knowledgeable he is, it will be difficult for him to gain the trust of his friends, and he will eventually fall into a useless position.

To be trustworthy is to fulfill the promises made to friends. This requires us to be cautious in making promises in our interactions with friends. That is to say, before making a promise, you must weigh it carefully. Can the promise you make to your friends be fulfilled? Because once a promise is made, it must be fulfilled, otherwise it is a breach of trust.