The Analects of Confucius 2

Some disciples said that people who are filial to their brothers but like to offend their superiors are rare. Those who are not willing to offend their superiors but like to cause chaos are rare. A gentleman is committed to his roots. The Tao is born from the foundation, and filial piety and brotherhood are the foundation of benevolence.

Youzi was the third generation student of Confucius. He was about 33 years younger. Youzi looked like Confucius. When Confucius passed away, his disciples often asked Youzi to give lectures in memory of him. In the Analects, apart from Confucius, only Youzi and Mencius are called Zi. Therefore, later generations suspect that the Analects of Confucius was compiled by students of these two men.

Xian, in ancient Chinese literature, means very little, almost none. It means that if this person is a good family member at home, he will also be a very good employee. What is not there means that it does not exist. It's not easy to commit crimes, but it's easy to cause trouble. It's impossible. A gentleman should stick to his roots, and the Tao will be born from his roots. Why do we say that the Tao will be born from his roots? You know, Confucius said that if you hear the Tao in the morning, you will die in the evening, so all those who studied at that time were actually pursuing this thing.

But if you think about it all day long, I want to enlighten you. On the contrary, it cannot be asked for.

The fundamental and starting point that Youzi emphasizes is that you can run your own family well first, you can be kind to your father and your son, and respectful to your brothers and sisters. Do these things well first, and other things will take care of themselves. Will do well.

When we shift the treatment of parents and brothers to other people, Mr. Li Zhongying once said that everyone only needs to face two relationships in this life, one is the relationship between you and your parents. , one is your relationship with other people, so if your relationship with your parents and brothers is not good, your relationship with other people will not be very good either.

Here I also thought of a book we once recommended called "Mastering Habits". You see, it is a small thing to be filial and filial, and then what follows is that it is a good thing to be guilty of others. It is a big thing to be easy to make trouble but it is a bigger thing to be easy to make trouble. You will find that the result of my behavior is composed of the small habits we formed in the early days.

This is called mini habit. If we can adjust a little bit of our mini habit every day, we will gain a completely different result in one year or five years. People always tend to overestimate the short-term, one-year Or the effect of a few months, but underestimate the results of 5 to 10 years of hard work.

You add up bit by bit, bit by bit, and the dividing line between people starts from here.

When you go home after work, do you watch TV or read a book? Do you play sports with your children or play games with them? Over time, there will be a difference.

There is an example on the Internet, 1.01 to the power of 365 is 37.8, and 0.99 to the power of 365 is 0.03. The difference between working a little bit every day and being lazy a little bit every day will be the difference after one year.

Isn’t this the end? 1.02 raised to the 365th power is 1377.4. 0.98 raised to the 365th power is 0.006.

You are 1.01 and I am 1.02. It seems that I have only improved a little bit, but as long as the time is long enough, the difference is huge. You are 37.8 and I am 1377.4. You don’t have to accept this. Do you think this If it is chicken soup for the soul, it is indeed not very convincing as a mechanical analogy, but we use this metaphor to look at habits.

So there is a famous saying in the West, said by Mrs. Thatcher.

You have to be careful about your thoughts, because they become your words.

You have to be careful about your words, because they will become your actions,

You have to be careful about your actions, because they will become your habits,

You have to be careful about your habits, because it will become your character;

You have to be careful about your character, because it will become your destiny.

It seems like plain language, but what it actually tells us is that you should try your best to do every detail in your life, and you should work hard first in a family where you can work hard, and you will be successful. People, work hard to become a good person, only then will you contribute to the country and society.