1. Saints and Devils

There was a painter who wanted to paint Jesus, but was unable to find an innocent person as a model. Later, a young monk in the monastery made the painter get his wish. After the icon was completed, the painter became famous and made a lot of money. The model monk also received a generous bounty.

Later, the painter felt that after painting the saint Jesus, he should paint another one of the devil Satan. How can there be only saints and no devils in the world? So, the artist decided to paint the devil Satan. Soon, he found the model of the devil Satan in prison.

Unexpectedly, the prisoner who was about to be painted as a devil cried bitterly in front of the artist: "The saint you painted before was me. I didn't expect that it is me you are looking for when you paint the devil now!".

The painter was shocked and said: "How is this possible?"

The man cried bitterly and said: "I have no intention of practicing Taoism anymore after I got your bounty. , so he just went for fun. When he ran out of money, his desire could no longer be restrained, so he had to cheat, steal, and rob... In the end, the painter was arrested and imprisoned. "

The pen left with a long sigh.

There is a popular quip in the comments called "Men become bad when they are rich, and women become rich when they become bad." Although it is a witticism, it also contains some philosophy. The old saying goes well: "Although wine nourishes the nature, it also messes with the nature; water can carry a boat but also capsize it." Money can be lovable or hateful. After a person has a lot of money, if he neglects the transformation of his thoughts and the cultivation of his character, the money in his hands will indulge the desires in his heart, and the indulged desires will drive his hands to get more money. , over time, it will cause a pure and simple monk with the image and qualities of a saint to degenerate into a criminal who is full of sins and looks like a devil. It is true that "indulgence in greed is a sea of ??suffering, and burning desire is a pit of fire."

2. White paper and black dots

There is a boarding school in Kumasi, Ghana, Africa. One morning, a teacher walked into the classroom, held up a piece of white paper with a black dot on it and asked the students: "Students, what do you see?" The students responded in unison: "A black dot. "

The teacher said: "No! Look again, don't any of you see that this is a blank piece of paper?" Then the teacher said earnestly: "In the future, you will Don’t look at people and things like this!”

The teacher’s instructions about this “blank paper” have always been engraved in the mind of a student who was only 17 years old at the time. This student at that time was the current United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Comments In this world where gunfire is constant, crises arise, terrorists are everywhere, and unexpected disasters occur all the time, Mr. Annan, as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, always appreciates the teacher’s concept of “white paper and black”. "dots" of my earnest teachings, I am still optimistic about the beauty and loveliness of this "white paper" even though there are many "black dots". In fact, we often encounter such "white paper" stained with "black spots". For example, comrades who have suffered from mistakes, such as colleagues who have many problems... Therefore, we should carefully appreciate the story of this African teacher's "black dots and white paper" and understand this truth: when looking at people, we should first "look at a piece of paper" "Blank slate" means looking at people's mainstream and big details. We should be tolerant and tolerant of other people's "black spots" and seek common ground while reserving differences. Don't only pay attention to other people's "black spots" and be deliberately picky or even fault-finding.

3. Garden of the Soul

In the United States, for a period of time, oil king Hamer, who had always been the leader in oil sales, reduced his oil output to Eastern European countries, while his competitors oil output increased slightly. People don't understand this phenomenon. When a tabloid reporter asked about this most sensitive topic, Hammer replied pleasantly: "Taking care of others means taking care of yourself. Those who want to be ahead of others in the competition should understand that taking care of others , It’s the best and quickest way to go.”

At that time, Jessick didn’t understand what Hammer said, thinking that he was just being pretentious and perfunctory.

It wasn't until he read a short story in a report about Hammer 10 years later that he suddenly understood.

One winter, young Hammer fled to a small town called Watson in Southern California with a group of companions. Those days, the winter rain was falling, and the path beside the flower garden in front of Mayor Jackson's door turned into a puddle. Pedestrians had to walk through the flower garden, leaving it in a mess. Hammer felt sorry for the mayor, so he stopped pedestrians from walking through the flower garden regardless of the cold rain. At this time, the mayor came back with a smile on his face, carrying a load of slag, and calmly spread the slag in the mud in front of Hammer. The path was clear and no one passed through the flowerbed anymore. The mayor meaningfully said to Hammer: "Look, taking care of others means taking care of yourself. What's wrong with that?"

The words and deeds of the kind-hearted mayor shocked Hammer's heart greatly.

Comments If it weren’t for the snow and rain in the sky and the muddy path ahead, who would have the heart to trample on the beautiful flower beds? Although it is not the fault of the flower garden that it rains, and the difficulty of walking on the path has nothing to do with the flower garden owner, if you want to protect your flower bed from being trampled and ravaged, instead of guarding the flower bed in the rain, it is better to pick up slag to pave the road. The human soul is like a beautiful flower garden, the journey of life is like the path in front of the flower garden, and life is like the sky where it always rains. To protect your soul from being trampled, and rain is inevitable, what is the best way? Just try to help those who may want to pass through your "flower garden" because the "path is muddy." There are probably not many people in the world who are born to do bad things. Most people do bad things because they are forced by life.

4. Cao Cao burned the tablets

When Cao Cao was attacking Yuan Shao, he was scolded by Chen Lin with a piece of paper that made his head spit blood, humiliating his ancestors. But he cherished Chen Lin's talent and instead of killing her, he entrusted her with important responsibilities. When defeating Yuan Shao, Cao Cao found a bunch of letters from a book in which Cao Cao's subordinates communicated secretly with Yuan Shao. Some people advised Cao Cao to kill these people, but Cao Cao said: "Shang Shao is so strong that he can't achieve results alone, let alone others?" This means: When Yuan Shao is strong, even I don't know what will happen to me, let alone Not to mention others. Therefore, the letters were ordered to be burned, and the parties involved were not held accountable.

Comments No matter what history says about Cao Cao, his compassion for talents and tolerance for his subordinates show that he is worthy of being the commander of an army and the king of a country. Many times, if we can put ourselves in other people's shoes, then many of other people's mistakes may be excusable. Forgiveness produces tolerance, but tolerance is more shocking than punishment. It is said that those who are small are not gentlemen, and those who do not have "degree" are not husbands. Those who achieve great things often have broad-mindedness. "The sea is open to all rivers, and tolerance is great." For a leader, tolerance is an important part of leadership quality. If you have the tolerance to tolerate the mistakes of your subordinates, you will be able to gain their sincere support.

5. Divide the sheep

The emperor will reward each of his ministers with a sheep. But those sheep are of different sizes and fat and thin. How should we divide them reasonably so that everyone can agree on them? Some people advocate dividing the size of the sheep according to their official positions, some people advocate drawing lots and dividing the sheep by luck, and some people advocate killing all the sheep and dividing the meat equally... Just when the officials were offering suggestions for dividing the sheep, and the emperor couldn't agree, the prime minister went to the sheep and divided them. The smallest and skinniest sheep was taken away. The prime minister takes the initiative to suffer losses, so who has the nerve to argue? As a result, the sheep were divided smoothly in mutual humility.

Comments: In ancient times, sheep were the most beautiful food. Using sheep to reward ministers reflected the emperor's care for his ministers. This is originally a good thing, but if it is not done well, conflicts and opinions will arise, and the good thing will turn into a bad thing. Since "those sheep are of different sizes, fat and thin", no matter which distribution plan is used, it cannot be divided appropriately and reasonably. It is easier said than done to satisfy everyone! The only good way is for those who receive rewards to be more modest and willing to suffer some losses. The prime minister in the story realized this, so he resolutely chose the "smallest and thinnest" one for himself. The prime minister, who has the highest position and the most power among the officials, did not use his power to choose the biggest and fattest one, but chose the "smallest and thinnest" one. Even if some of the other officials did not want to suffer a loss, they would be embarrassed to pick the big one and the fattest one. .

If the division continues like this, not only will the division go smoothly, but the biggest and fattest one will be left to the last official. The prime minister, as the leader of all officials, takes the lead in humility by setting an example, which will not only make the sheep separation go smoothly, but will also bring out a good atmosphere throughout the dynasty. In current conflicts, if the parties concerned can show humility, any problem can be solved satisfactorily; in current interests, if leaders can take the lead in suffering losses, why worry about the social atmosphere not getting better?

6. Liumi Cave

Going down the Yangtze River from Chongqing and passing through Zhongxian County, there is a solitary peak standing on the north bank, with wonderful scenery. There is a tower on the top of the peak, and there is a hole in the tower called "Liumi Cave". There is a story circulating here: "Liu Mi Cave" rice automatically flows out of the cave every day for the monks in the temple to enjoy. Later, a monk thought that the entrance of the cave was too small and the rice flowing out was only enough for food, so he secretly made the hole larger, hoping that more rice could flow out in exchange for money. Unexpectedly, from then on, no grain of rice came out of the hole.

If comments are limited and stopped when they are good, it is possible to maintain the benefits we already enjoy. Once greed arises, grabbing hands may result in not only not being able to get more, but also losing everything you already have. In life, I don’t know how many people have “drilled” a “flowing rice hole” due to greed and abandoned everything they had before! One thing we can easily understand is that we cannot possess all the benefits in the world. We should cherish the existing "flowing rice hole" very much and let it flow slowly. In fact, many things in life do not need to be possessed too much, such as material money, honor and reputation. It is enough for us to get the share we deserve. Obtaining too much will only cause more jealousy and jealousy. The scheming gaze increases one's physical and mental burden for no reason.

7. The best chess player in the world

Zuo Zongtang, a famous official of the Qing Dynasty, liked to play chess, and his chess skills were so superb that he rarely encountered opponents. One day before he was ordered to lead troops to Xinjiang to suppress the rebellion, he went on patrol incognito and saw an old man in his seventies setting up a chess formation on the street under a sign with the six characters "The best chess player in the world" written on it. Zuo Zongtang felt that the old man's claim to be "the best chess player in the world" was too arrogant, and wanted to teach him a lesson, so he stepped forward to challenge him. Unexpectedly, the old man was vulnerable and suffered defeats one after another. Zuo Zongtang was so proud that he ordered the old man to quickly smash the sign and leave, so as not to be embarrassed here again.

What I didn’t expect was that when Zuo Zongtang returned from fighting the rebellion in Xinjiang, the signboard of “The Best Chess Player in the World” was still there. He was very unhappy and decided to teach this ignorant person a lesson again. Strangely enough, this time Zuo Zongtang was "killed" by the old man and was defeated in three battles. Zuo Zongtang refused to accept it and fought with him again the next day. This time he lost even more miserably. He found it incredible and asked the old man why his chess skills had improved so quickly in such a short period of time. The old man replied with a smile: "Although you went on tour incognito last time, I know that you are Mr. Zuo and you are about to go to Xinjiang. I don't want to dampen your spirit as the commander of the first army, so I deliberately let you win, so that you can confidently fight against the rebellion as a winner who defeated the "best chess player in the world". Now that you have triumphed, there is nothing for me to do. I no longer have any scruples." After hearing this, Zuo Zongtang was ashamed. He thought that such an old man among the people actually understood the righteousness so well. He felt that as an important member of the court and a prince, he had lost more than a few games of chess in front of this old man!

Comment on this old chess player pretending to lose in front of everyone in the street, in front of his own brand of "the best chess player in the world", not only to be defeated Chess opponents misunderstand and are laughed at by many uninformed spectators. But for the sake of "great justice", he was willing to bear this grievance. This kind of behavior of great moral importance regardless of trivial right and wrong is something that ordinary people cannot do. Because it is not just a general spirit of forgiveness, it is selfless dedication, noble giving, and kindness to the country and others. It requires an active spirit more than forgiveness, and it can also show the value of a person's soul. In this sense, this old chess player has higher skills and morals.

8. Three Eight Twenty Three

One day, Yan Hui went to the street and saw a cloth buyer and a cloth seller quarreling.

The cloth buyer said: "Why did you charge me twenty-four when it was clearly three-eight-twenty-three?" The cloth seller said: "Thirty-eight is originally twenty-four, so I was right to charge you twenty-four." Yan Hui couldn't help but stepped forward to break up the fight. He said to the cloth buyer, "Sir, thirty-eight is twenty-four. You made a mistake." Unexpectedly, the man pointed at Yan Hui's nose and said, "Who are you? Dare you say that I made a mistake? I will listen to Confucius and ask him for comment." Yan Hui brought the cloth buyer to see Confucius. On the way, the cloth buyer asked, "What if you are wrong?" "I am wrong, so I will give you this new hat on my head." Yan Hui asked, "What if you are wrong? What should I do?" The cloth buyer replied: "If I am wrong, I will cut off the head and give it to you." After hearing the situation, Confucius said seriously to Yan Hui: "Three and eight are originally two. Thirteen, Yan Hui, you lost, give me your hat quickly!"

Yan Hui never thought that the teacher he regarded as a god could be so confused, but out of respect for the teacher, he still He took off his hat and handed it to the cloth buyer.

After the cloth buyer left happily with Yan Hui's hat, Confucius smiled and said to Yan Hui, who had a dark face: "I said you lost, but you just lost one hat. hat; if I say he loses, it means a human life! Didn’t you see the seriousness of the cloth buyer? Do you think the hat is more important than the human life? Yan Hui suddenly realized, kneeling in front of the teacher and said: "Teacher, this is more important The student is extremely ashamed if he is righteous and does not care about small rights and wrongs!"

Comments: Smart people have their own smart opinions, and extraordinary people have their own extraordinary actions. The sage Confucius pretended to be confused in this dispute between right and wrong, but it was His "confusion" shows the wisdom of the sage. Think about it, Confucius has such a high prestige in people's hearts, and his every word and deed may have an impact on others. If at this time he must adhere to the "truth", the truth. To be honest, the uneducated but serious cloth buyer who only remembered that "March 8" was "Twenty-three" would have fulfilled his promise and lost his life. Confucius was telling Yan Hui that a person should be righteous and honest. You should be honest with others about trivial matters. Zheng Banqiao, a famous calligrapher and painter in the Qing Dynasty, had a thorough understanding of this. He actually used "It is rare to be confused" as his motto.

9. Bao Gong abandoned the inkstone<. /p>

In the second year of Qingli reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Bao Zheng was transferred to Ruichuan, Guangdong Province to serve as county magistrate. At that time, bribery was prevalent, and some local tyrants and evil gentry competed with the rich and powerful in order to gain promotion and make money by offering exquisitely carved precious inkstones. As a bribe. Although Bao Zheng loved calligraphy and Duan Inkstone, he insisted not to accept it.

Later he was transferred and left. Unexpectedly, the local officials and gentry came to the river to see him off. At that time, suddenly dark clouds closed in the sky, there was a strong wind and rain, and the waves were turbulent. Bao Zheng was shocked and thought that he had done something wrong without knowing it, so he immediately closed his eyes and reflected. However, he couldn't think of what he did here. What's wrong with Guan Yiren? At this time, he ordered his attendant Bao Xing to search the cabin to see if anyone had secretly sent gifts on board. Bao Xing searched every place where items could be hidden, but found nothing. Finally, Bao Xing couldn't bear to see his master anxious, so he explained that he accepted the gift behind his back when he boarded the ship. He thought it was a gift given by the people to express gratitude to the master when he left office, so he accepted it without any harm. Bao Zheng took out a beautiful Duan Inkstone wrapped in yellow cloth from the bag. Without saying a word, he took the Duan Inkstone from Bao Xing's hand and threw it into the turbulent river waves. The huge waves subsided immediately.

The ancients said: "A piece of integrity is the pillar that supports the heaven and the earth; a little bit of unbearable thought is the root of people and animals." "A drop of water can show the glory of the sun. This story is really insignificant to the all-powerful Bao Zheng, but it reflects Bao Zheng's uprightness as a man and his integrity as an official. According to common sense, what Bao Xing thinks and does It is understandable that people would like to express their gratitude by giving gifts to their parents for their official achievements when they leave office. This is different from giving gifts while in office. However, in the view of Bao Zheng, an upright official, doing anything good for the people is considered a good thing for an official. There is no reason to accept the gratitude of the common people, let alone accept the property of the common people. As the saying goes, "enjoyment should not exceed the standard, and practice should not detract from the standard."

Although the inkstone is small, "calligraphy and painting are elegant things, and a greedy person will become a merchant; mountains and forests are a resort, and a camp of love will become a city." No matter what the circumstances, accepting the property of the common people is a violation of official style. Any contamination of the product will make an official robe exude the smell of copper.

10. Sangyuan Jizi

In order to avoid the war, Deng You of the Jin Dynasty fled with his sister-in-law, son and nephew. On the way, his sister-in-law was dispersed by the rebel army. The old and frail Deng You could not take care of his two young children, so he reluctantly tied his own son to a mulberry tree and continued to flee with his nephew on his back. Fortunately, not long after, the sister-in-law who came from behind discovered Deng You's son. The aunt and nephew met Deng You by chance after escaping from Tongguan, and the family was reunited.

When commenting on a person’s life, I don’t know how many choices he has to face: big or small, more or less, beauty or ugliness, heavy or light, easy or difficult, pros and cons, closeness or distance... no matter where A choice is probably difficult to make beyond human nature. It is human nature to choose what is beneficial to oneself, and there is nothing wrong with it; it is not too difficult to choose what is beneficial to others. There are many people in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. On the way to escape, when Deng You could only take one of the two children with him, he chose his nephew instead of his son. This would not be easier than choosing death in the face of life and death. This split-second decision is enough to make people thrilling, enough to make people sigh, and enough to make all the people in ancient and modern times who have fought against each other for their own interests ashamed.

11. Two-Headed Bird

There is a bird with two heads. When one head sleeps, the other head serves as a guard.

The head on the left likes to doze off, while the head on the right has to act as a guard all the time without any rest.

Is this new important? "

One day, when the head on the right was performing guard duties, a gust of wind blew and a sweet fruit fell from the tree. The head on the right wanted to ask the head on the left to taste it together, but saw it sleeping soundly. , couldn't bear to wake it up, so I thought: "Anyway, I have the same body as it. If I eat it, it will also benefit." "So he ate the fruit.

After the head on the left woke up, he heard the head on the right burping and smelled a fragrance. He understood that the head on the right had enjoyed the delicious food exclusively, and he held a grudge from then on. In the heart.

One day, it was the left head's turn to be the guard, and he wanted to enjoy the sweet fruit. Just in time, a gust of wind blew, and a poisonous fruit fell from the tree next door. While resenting his bad luck, he thought: "It has the sweet fruit all to itself, so I have the poisonous fruit to itself. Anyway, it and I are in the same body. If we want to die, let's die together!" So he ate the poisonous fruit. .

Comments In fact, as long as you endure many things that make you angry, you will soon find that things are not as bad as you thought, and you may not even suffer at all. Others are not as bad as you think. To be kind to others is to be kind to yourself. However, there are indeed people in this world who would rather live and die and suffer both sides than spare others. They would rather die together. Let others live. What is even more frightening is that this kind of courage is often due to trivial matters or even temporary misunderstandings. "Don't force yourself to the point of life and death over grudges.

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