A Reflection on Three Quotes Attributed to Confucius

Confucius was a wise man that gave many bits of advice over his lifetime. One of his famous sayings is, “He (a gentleman) preaches only what he practices.” In other words, only advise people to do things that you would typically do. I could not agree with this statement enough. There is no reason why you should be advising someone to do something when you yourself would never follow your own advice. For instance, if you yourself have a fear of public speaking, you should never tell someone to “suck it up” when they are expressing concern about an upcoming public speaking assignment.

If you are afraid of public speaking and cannot “suck it up” then why should someone else?

This is an instance that one needs to practice what they preach. It is unfair of you to give someone “good advice” when you have the same vices that you are unable to fix. Confucius is also quoted as saying, “The gentleman considers the whole rather than the parts.

The small man considers the parts rather than the whole.” In short, someone who is wise looks at the “big picture” of a situation rather than just irrelevant details. A foolish man does the opposite; focuses on the irrelevant details rather than the general concept or “big picture.” This is very relevant in modern times. Many times, people are so caught up increasing technology that they forget the big picture of life.

I recall once seeing a young teenage girl at a local department store that had dropped her expensive Smartphone and shattered the screen.

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She was clearly devastated and quite distraught. Her mother did not seem to mind. She simply replied, “You will have to use your back up until the new one comes in.” The little girl was furious. She was focusing on the little picture of the phone being broken and having to use some inferior technology, rather than the big picture of being blessed with such communication and technology.

Another commonly heard quote by Confucius is, “Do not worry if you are without a position; worry lest you do not deserve a position. Do not worry if you are not famous; worry lest you do not deserve to be famous.” In other words, one should be more focused on what they are capable of rather than what one is actively achieving. Most people are so very focus on their lack of achievements that they are unable to appreciate the path towards those achievements. If you have positive goals in your future that are attainable, you are already on such a road to success.

For instance, many high school students get stressed over not having the best grades, not having a job, or not knowing what their future major is going to be. Yes, these things are important, but what is most important is that you are even able to worry about these things because of the path you are on (getting an education through high school). Confucius was a wise man with many pieces of worthy advice. If the world today followed his teachings, it would probably be a much better place.