This book gives you a very nice insight into Confucius, the philosopher whose thinking has a profound impact on the Chinese society.
It has good depths and is easy reading, in my view certainly, applicable to the modern times in which we are living.
Let me share with you one of the stories which is used to illustrate a point.
“Once there was a bad-tempered little boy, who was dreadfully stubborn, flying constantly into rages, smashing and hitting things. One day his father took the child by the hand and led him to the fence at the back of their garden, saying: ‘Son, from now on, every time you lose your temper at home, knock a nail into the fence. Then after a while you can see how many times you have lost your temper, all right?’ The child thought, what’s to be afraid of? I’ll give it a try. After that, every time he threw a tantrum, he knocked a nail into the fence, and when he came later to look, he felt a bit embarrassed: ‘Oh! All those nails! Heaps of them!’
His father said: ‘Do you see? You have to control yourself. If you manage not to lose your temper for a whole day, you can pull out one of the nails from the fence.’ The boy thought, if I lose my temper once then I have to hammer in a nail, but I have to go for a whole day without losing my temper before I can pull one out – that’s really difficult! And yet, to get rid of the nails, he had to keep himself constantly under control.
At the start, the boy found it terribly difficult, but by the time he had pulled out all the nails out of the fence, he suddenly realized that he had learned how to control himself. He went happily to see his father, saying: “Daddy, quick, come and look, there are no more nails in the fence, and I don’t lose my temper any more.’
The father went with the boy to stand next to the fence, and said in a voice full of significance: ‘Look, son, the nails in the fence have all been pulled out, but the holes will stay there for ever. Every time you lose your temper with your family, it drives a hole into their hearts. When the nail has been pulled out, you can apologize, but you can never make the hole disappear.’
This story is a perfect explanation of what Confucius meant by ‘in your speech you make few mistakes and in your action you have few regrets’.
Of course there is much more in the book, great reading!
It has good depths and is easy reading, in my view certainly, applicable to the modern times in which we are living.
Let me share with you one of the stories which is used to illustrate a point.
“Once there was a bad-tempered little boy, who was dreadfully stubborn, flying constantly into rages, smashing and hitting things. One day his father took the child by the hand and led him to the fence at the back of their garden, saying: ‘Son, from now on, every time you lose your temper at home, knock a nail into the fence. Then after a while you can see how many times you have lost your temper, all right?’ The child thought, what’s to be afraid of? I’ll give it a try. After that, every time he threw a tantrum, he knocked a nail into the fence, and when he came later to look, he felt a bit embarrassed: ‘Oh! All those nails! Heaps of them!’
His father said: ‘Do you see? You have to control yourself. If you manage not to lose your temper for a whole day, you can pull out one of the nails from the fence.’ The boy thought, if I lose my temper once then I have to hammer in a nail, but I have to go for a whole day without losing my temper before I can pull one out – that’s really difficult! And yet, to get rid of the nails, he had to keep himself constantly under control.
At the start, the boy found it terribly difficult, but by the time he had pulled out all the nails out of the fence, he suddenly realized that he had learned how to control himself. He went happily to see his father, saying: “Daddy, quick, come and look, there are no more nails in the fence, and I don’t lose my temper any more.’
The father went with the boy to stand next to the fence, and said in a voice full of significance: ‘Look, son, the nails in the fence have all been pulled out, but the holes will stay there for ever. Every time you lose your temper with your family, it drives a hole into their hearts. When the nail has been pulled out, you can apologize, but you can never make the hole disappear.’
This story is a perfect explanation of what Confucius meant by ‘in your speech you make few mistakes and in your action you have few regrets’.
Of course there is much more in the book, great reading!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment