What are the three fears of a gentleman? They are as follows:

Fear of destiny, fear of princes and saints.

"A gentleman has three fears". The "fear" here is not fear, but awe, respect and caution.

Confucius said that a gentleman should be awed and considerate in three aspects.

1. "Fear of destiny": fear of destiny.

Many people talk about the destiny in a mysterious and profound way, but I think it is the law, rules and truth. Believing in destiny means having faith in life.

Teacher Fan Deng explained that Christians believe in Christ. When people encounter problems, he will say that I am responsible for doing it and solving it. God considers me, but I can't solve it. It's okay. God will arrange it himself, so he is not serious and has less pain.

Buddhism believes in cause and effect, and he thinks that every cause has its consequences. I work hard on the cause and follow the fate on the fruit, so he lives easily without anxiety.

Confucius believed in destiny, conformed to the right time and place, and worked hard to promote harmony between people. "Do your best and listen to your destiny", no matter what the result is, it will not be treated negatively. When the monarch valued him, he fulfilled his duty, boldly reformed and made progress, and managed the capital of Lu state so that small traders did not dare to ask exorbitant prices; The road is not picked up, and the door is not closed at night; Feel at home. When the monarch didn't need him, he hung up the seal and left, starting classes to take students, traveling around the world and preaching, "nothing is impossible." Although life is hard, he is not tired and happy.

Therefore, people who fear destiny are confident that "Man proposes, God disposes", take advantage of the situation, and actively deal with problems. As for the result, let nature take its course.

look, how beautiful this calm state is.

2. "Fear of adults": people who fear positions of power, that is, leaders and elders.

Confucius doesn't advocate flattery. He thinks that "a threesome is bound to be a teacher". Some leaders must have their own strengths when they get to the top. Although they can't accept everything, they should "choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones", so they should be respected.

when Confucius met his superiors, he spoke in a "humble and respectful manner", spoke kindly, and argued bluntly when discussing issues, neither bowing or bowing, nor blushing or being aggressive.

Respect is the starting point of communication and the external expression of one's inner cultivation. Everyone should be treated with respect, let alone leadership.

3. "Fear the words of saints": fear the wisdom of predecessors.

There are many famous sayings, aphorisms and proverbs in life, such as "Learning without thinking is useless, thinking without learning is lazy", "If you want to stand up and learn, you will be able to reach people", "Reading must be intentional, and a word is worth a thousand dollars", "Learning from a distance will make you see people's hearts for a long time" and "Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda".

if you focus on finding fault with the sage's words, you will be arrogant, and it will be difficult to grow up.

in Confucius' view, villains are just the opposite. "I don't know my destiny, but I'm not afraid of it, so I'm insulting adults and saints."

I have no faith, no sense of bottom line, no scruples, no care. I live in a daze, unable to find a sense of responsibility and belonging, and of course, I can't feel the taste of happiness. This is "I don't know my destiny and I'm not afraid of it." Such people often encounter setbacks and do everything they can to violate the law and discipline and harm others and themselves.

"Dear Sir", this "Dear Sir" is intimate but not solemn. Little people despise and ignore leaders, or highly respected people, or elderly people. Leaders and elders can be amiable and approachable with subordinates or juniors, and get along with everyone, but as subordinates or juniors, they should know how to advance and retreat, have an eye for children, and must not be arrogant, disobey elders, gag and joke with their arms around their necks, and tolerate you when they meet someone with great capacity, and don't care about you; When you meet an "adult" with poor self-cultivation, he will think that you have offended him and look for opportunities to "try hard" you.

"Insulting the sage's words", the villain is not awed, but self-righteous, insulting, bullying, poking fun at the famous words of wisdom, treating the sage's words as old-fashioned and superstitious, and knocking down the criticism at will.

In short, Confucius told us in Chapter 8 of Ji's Chapter of The Analects of Confucius that people should have a sense of bottom line and rules, respect nature, life, morality and law from the heart, and internalize rules in their hearts and externalize them in their deeds whenever and wherever they are. Otherwise, it will be yourself who suffers.