"Xunzi" records such an incident: Confucius took his disciples to visit the temple of Duke Huan of Lu. When he saw a very cleverly made vessel, he asked the temple guard: "This "What kind of vessel is it?" The temple guard replied: "This is probably the "motto vessel."" Confucius said: "I heard that the king's "motto vessel" will become empty when it is empty. If you pour an appropriate amount of water, it will straighten, but if it is filled with water, it will overturn."

The temple guard replied, "Yes, just as you said. ”

In order to verify this statement, Confucius asked Zilu to get some water and try it.

Sure enough, everyone saw: when it was empty, the vessel was tilted and crooked, unable to stand up; when the appropriate amount of water was poured into it, the vessel became straight; when it was filled with water, the vessel fell over. .

Confucius sighed and said, "Well, where can anyone keep it full without falling over?"

Zilu asked, "Is there any way to keep it full?"

Confucius replied: "A good way to keep the water full but not falling is to suppress and reduce the water so that it is not full and it will not fall."

Zilu asked again: "How to suppress the reduction? ”

Confucius replied: “A person with high moral status should be humble, respectful and polite; a person with knowledge should remain ignorant and listen to other people’s opinions. The higher the official salary, the higher the salary. The more people have, the more they should maintain a fearful attitude; the people who have a lot of property should be frugal and not extravagant; if you can do this, I think you can suppress and reduce the overthrow of "fullness".

It can be seen from this that knowing, being moderate, and being humble are good attitudes in life.