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From Wang Yongbin's "Night Talk Around the Furnace" in Qing Dynasty.
Excerpts from the original text
"All evil comes first, regardless of all intentions, there are few perfect people in the world."
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Fornication is the worst thing, and judging a person's good and evil should be based on his actions, not his inner thoughts. If a person once had evil thoughts in his heart, then even if he is living well now, he is not really a good person.
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The meaning of this sentence is obvious, reminding us to pay attention to a person's behavior, not just his appearance and performance. If a person's heart is not right, then his behavior is likely to deviate from the right path. Therefore, we should judge a person by whether his words and deeds conform to the moral standards, not just by his superficial efforts.
Creation background
Wang Yongbin wrote this sentence in Night Talk Around the Furnace, which was behind his anxiety and reflection on the social atmosphere at that time. At that time, feudal ethics had gradually disintegrated and social morality had been shaken. Wang Yongbin believes that only by returning to traditional virtues and moral norms can social morality be rebuilt.
To annotate ...
Gentleman: refers to a person with morality and moral cultivation.
Trace: judge a person's behavior and what he has done.
On mind: judging a person's inner thoughts and motives.
Fornication: refers to immoral behavior in sexual behavior.
Enlightenment of life
When we evaluate a person, we should pay more attention to what he says and does, not just his appearance and performance. At the same time, we should also pay attention to our own moral cultivation and norms, influence others with correct behavior, and better shape ourselves.
In life, we often encounter such a situation. Some people pretend to be just and upright on the surface, but in fact their hearts are full of selfish and deceptive thoughts. If we only look at the surface, we are easily confused by their appearance. If we really observe their behavior, we can evaluate their conduct and character more objectively.
At the same time, we should always reflect on our own hearts, maintain integrity and noble quality, and let our actions show our true thoughts and pursuits. We should seriously reflect on our behavior, constantly improve our quality and be a real gentleman.