The first sentence of the Analects of Confucius

The opening chapter of "The Analects of Confucius" tells us three principles of life in the first sentence, which we need to understand carefully.

Confucius said: "Isn't it true to say that one learns and practices from time to time? Isn't it a joy to have friends from far away? Isn't it a gentleman if a person doesn't know and is not stunned?"

“Isn’t it true that when you learn something, you practice it?” What does this sentence tell us?

We often say that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. When a person does not have an opportunity, he should constantly hone himself and make himself stronger. Once the opportunity comes, you have enough ability to seize the opportunity and achieve success.

Just like a very popular saying nowadays: "As long as you stand in the wind, a pig can fly."

The problem is that this requires two things. First, you need to You can keenly catch the wind; secondly, you must have enough ability to control the wind before you can fly.

How to seize the opportunity? How to catch the wind? Confucius told us to "learn", learn to behave in society, learn to establish ourselves, and cultivate virtue. When the "opportunity" comes, all the knowledge and skills you have learned will help you fly.

Are you unhappy if this happens? Don't you "say it"? This is the first principle of life that Confucius told us.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have friends from far away?” The most difficult thing in life is to find a close friend. Life experience tells us that many times, we have too much to say, and we cannot say it to our lovers, parents, children, or even colleagues at work.

What to do? If you keep it in your heart and don't express it, it would be strange if you don't hold it in and get sick over time. How do people become depressed? In fact, many people are depressed like this.

At this time, your soulmate comes and passes by your city on a business trip. The two of you have a small glass of wine, and the words that are held back in your heart are all spread out by the wine. This is why "friends" are like medicine, relieving "heart worries".

Are you happy at this time? It must be happy and transparent. But it is very "far" to get such a friend and confidant in life. You need to exchange your heart for your heart, use your own sincerity to communicate, and gradually you will gain a close friend in life.

In fact, the "far" in Confucius's sentence is not only understood as far in distance, but also as "far" in mind. Only friends who are close to each other are friends.

Don’t we often say this in life: "The farthest distance in the world is when I am by your side and you are on your mobile phone."

Confucius in Two Thousand Years The second truth told to us years ago is the same now in our lives.

From this perspective, isn’t Confucius also a confidant in our lives? As I write this, I can’t help but sigh!

“Isn’t he a gentleman if he doesn’t know something but doesn’t feel embarrassed?” What does this sentence tell us? In a person's life, not everything you do will be understood by others. Your persistence may be a "joke" in the eyes of others. At this time, what should you do? Still insisting?

Before your career is successful, only you know your pain, no one can understand it, no one can care for you, you can only bear the burden silently. What would you do in such a situation? Do you insist?

In fact, the difficult thing is not that you choose to persist, but that you enjoy the persistence. This is the most difficult thing. You didn't choose to complain, you didn't curse, you didn't give up on yourself, you enjoyed the loneliness of this kind of struggle. "You are not a gentleman." If you are not a gentleman, who is a gentleman?

Ming Dynasty Chen Meigong said, "How can I be happy alone?" He said: "Just sit in meditation for two days with nothing to do." "How can I be happy with others?" He said: "Have a chat with you, "It's better than ten years of reading." "How can it be possible for everyone to be happy?" It’s not as if “people don’t know and are not stunned”.

In short, Confucius’s first sentence tells us three truths: you need to learn more in life to seize opportunities; it is easy and happy to have a close friend in your life; you must learn Only by enjoying solitude can you have a big mind and a pattern of doing things.