We've all been there - you have a mountain of things to do and don't know where to start. You feel stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. The smart thing to do is take a deep breath and start small. This brings us to today's edition of "Confucius Didn't Say That!". So, go ahead and fix yourself a hot cup of tea and get cozy. We have an inspirational doozy today:
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones" -Confucius
To be honest, this quote is refreshing.
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones" -
To be honest, this quote is refreshing.
It almost kinda looks credible, it's at least in the realm of possibilities....however, once you really take a close look at it, it's rotten at its core. I also think it's stupid and since Confucius wasn't in the habit of saying vapid bullshit, I know he didn't say it before I even checked the Analects.
Yeah, it's stupid. These fake Confucius quotes really get my goat.
Think about it for a second. Why would you move a mountain in the first place? To what end? To build a road or city? Is it in the way? Even if you could move it, there are usually other mountains around it, would you have to move those as well? Even as you slowly dismantled a mountain you would have to transport its remains elsewhere incurring further cost and time. Has anyone ever looked at a mountain and said, "I'm pretty sure I can move this mountain if I just take a little bit at a time".
As always, my first step was to check AC Muller's translation of the Analects for the use of the word "mountain". There are a few mentions of mountains but none remotely similar to our selection above. One, in particular, I liked even though the message isn't about starting small or not giving up from 16:12:
"Duke Ching of Qi had a thousand teams of horses, but when he died, there was nothing for which the people could praise him. Bo Yi and Shu Qi died of starvation at the foot of Shouyang mountain, and the people praise them up till this day. What meaning can you glean from this?"
Of course I searched for other keywords, like "journey", "stones", "rocks", "small", "give up", etc. I am a keyword search expert and I just can't let my readers down. You can trust me. Okay, well you shouldn't trust me, I am just a stranger on the internet but I am more reliable than Google as far as finding real Confucius quotes, that's for sure.
As for the theme of starting small and effort that 'keeps the faith', there are a few quotes that could suffice. In 9:19, Confucius doesn't discuss moving a mountain but building a mound:
"The Master said: “It is like building a mound: If I stop before carrying a single basket of earth, it is my stopping. It is like leveling the ground: If I continue even after dumping only one basket, it is my continuation.”
Muller also leaves a comment with this quote and adds: "The process of self-development requires continual effort, even if only a bit at a time."
There was another quote on commitment in 15:2:
“The noble man remains stable when in dire straits. The inferior man falls apart."
It's clear that that the values underlying this quote don't directly contradict a Confucian worldview, although I think he would have issues with the metaphor.
I know, I know, maybe I'm taking the metaphor a little too literally.
Yeah, it's stupid. These fake Confucius quotes really get my goat.
Think about it for a second. Why would you move a mountain in the first place? To what end? To build a road or city? Is it in the way? Even if you could move it, there are usually other mountains around it, would you have to move those as well? Even as you slowly dismantled a mountain you would have to transport its remains elsewhere incurring further cost and time. Has anyone ever looked at a mountain and said, "I'm pretty sure I can move this mountain if I just take a little bit at a time".
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| The ironic thing about my memes is that they are fake Confucius quotes. |
As always, my first step was to check AC Muller's translation of the Analects for the use of the word "mountain". There are a few mentions of mountains but none remotely similar to our selection above. One, in particular, I liked even though the message isn't about starting small or not giving up from 16:12:
"Duke Ching of Qi had a thousand teams of horses, but when he died, there was nothing for which the people could praise him. Bo Yi and Shu Qi died of starvation at the foot of Shouyang mountain, and the people praise them up till this day. What meaning can you glean from this?"
Of course I searched for other keywords, like "journey", "stones", "rocks", "small", "give up", etc. I am a keyword search expert and I just can't let my readers down. You can trust me. Okay, well you shouldn't trust me, I am just a stranger on the internet but I am more reliable than Google as far as finding real Confucius quotes, that's for sure.
As for the theme of starting small and effort that 'keeps the faith', there are a few quotes that could suffice. In 9:19, Confucius doesn't discuss moving a mountain but building a mound:
"The Master said: “It is like building a mound: If I stop before carrying a single basket of earth, it is my stopping. It is like leveling the ground: If I continue even after dumping only one basket, it is my continuation.”
Muller also leaves a comment with this quote and adds: "The process of self-development requires continual effort, even if only a bit at a time."
There was another quote on commitment in 15:2:
“The noble man remains stable when in dire straits. The inferior man falls apart."
It's clear that that the values underlying this quote don't directly contradict a Confucian worldview, although I think he would have issues with the metaphor.
I know, I know, maybe I'm taking the metaphor a little too literally.
At my core, I am basically a "whatever floats your boat" kinda guy. So, if you like the quote, cheers my friend.
That said, the imagery of a man moving a mountain by carrying a few small stones is not inspiring at all. In fact, it's downright Sisyphean. No one could move a mountain a few small stones at a time. The entire metaphor reveals the utter pointlessness and smallness of human efforts in comparison with the earth and nature.
The real question isn't about starting small but ensuring we're working on something that can be accomplished in the first place. If you're looking for a cliche, I say go with "Rome wasn't built in a day" instead of this one.
Great post. These fake Confucius and Lao Tzu quotes are always popping up. Generally speaking, folks mean well, but are misguided. Thanks for supplying the 9:19 quote from The Analects. Love your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words. I have so few readers it's good to know someone out there in the universe might read them or enjoy them. My gruff demeanor in the Confucius posts is more a silly narrative device...I'm not mad...just annoyed a bit. :)
DeleteYou are not alone my friend, there are tons of misquotes especially from the far east and wish if there are any original quotes, give the reference from where it came from
ReplyDeleteAs Abraham Lincoln said: "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet."
ReplyDeleteThis is funny! My Fortune Cookie says, “The person who removes a mountain, can start the clean up too.” Haha. Obviously, no one can move a mountain, and it’s a metaphor. I’m eclectic when it comes to religion, but I do remember a quote from the Bible that said, “The faith of a mustard seed can move mountains.” I may be paraphrasing, but no one should take this literally. It’s just an expression using figurative language for dramatic effect. However, I’m glad that you are letting people know when the quotes are not from Confucius. I hate that Google of all things can give false misinformation.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the typo! I should’ve just said ‘misinformation.’ ‘False Misinformation’ is very redundant! 😆🤣😆🤣
DeleteThanks for stopping by. Although I have found value in writing these just for myself, it makes me feel good if I helped or entertained another person in the process.
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