Thought of the Day

If you want to irritate someone, get a bumper sticker.

If you want to debate someone, post something on Facebook.

If you want to change someone's mind, tell them a story.

Confucius Didn't Say That!: Where's the Glory in That?

One of the most oft-repeated ideas and tropes in American culture is, "Never give up!". It's built into our very myths about who we are as a people. We even celebrate lost causes like the Alamo or in the South, many sadly still celebrate the ultimate lost cause, the Confederacy.  "Never say die!" is also a a tried-and-true movie plot device, (Rocky, Braveheart, Hoosiers, or basically any sports or fighting movie). The lesson is to always give you best and never give up. If you give up you, you're a failure.

This all brings me to the latest "fake quote" of Confucius:

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius 

It's true that when I first read this quote I thought of this old Dwayne Wade commercial (but I was wrong that it was a shoe commercial instead of a sugar water commercial):



Even taking into account how different many of the English translations of Confucius' purported ideas are, I have become familiar with the style and form of Confucius's sayings. He's rarely pithy or blunt. His ideas are nuanced and usually preceded by or followed by explanations or exposition.

This has none of the qualities of Confucius' style or tone.

The real issue is the value behind the quote. The quote implies that the "greatest glory" about being a human is our drive for individual success. There's nothing wrong with the idea of "try, try again" but the meaning is clearly aimed at motivating people to "never give up" or to continue striving for their goal.

I am not claiming that Confucius would be a quitter and "pack it up" as soon as the "going got tough". There is general support for the idea of perseverance and persistence in the Analects.

[17:5] Zi Zhang asked Confucius about fundamental human goodness. Confucius said, “If you can practice these five things with all the people, you can be called a fundamentally good person.”

Zi Zhang asked what they were.

Confucius said, “Courtesy, generosity, honesty, persistence, and kindness. If you are courteous, you will not be disrespected; if you are generous, you will gain everything. If you are honest, people will rely on you. If you are persistent you will get results. If you are kind, you can employ people.”

However, persistence only used for personal or worldly success would be obscene to Confucius. He would not be a fan of Chumbawamba's one hit in the 90's.

The "greatest glory" wouldn't be striving for something greater but in our relationships. 

For Confucius and later Confucian thinkers, individuals only made sense in their relationships with others. It's something of a Confucian obsession that if everyone knew "their place" in society (their relationships) then harmony could be achieved.  From a Confucian point of view, my drive for personal success should never come at the expense of others and it must come clearly within the boundaries of the traditional relationships. We see this most clearly in Confucius' ideas of Ren, which is usually translated as something like "humaneness". Ren was the ideal of what people were to live like:

[12:22] Fan Chi asked about the meaning of ren.

Confucius said “love others.”He asked about the meaning of “knowledge.”

The Master said, “Know others.”

Again, the idea is towards the inter-relatedness of one's success, it should never come at the expense of others,

[6:30].... Now the ren man, wishing himself to be established, sees that others are established, and, wishing himself to be successful, sees that others are successful. To be able to take one's own 
feelings as a guide may be called the art of ren.”

I once heard Ren described as "seeking the good in others". I'm sure that's more of an interpretative approach to the term, but I liked that. If I seek good in others, I can find empathy and understanding. 

It seems this has been a fake quote attributed to Confucius or "Chinese philosopher" for a long time. This one really surprised me, I thought it sounded like a wholly 1997 creation from the internet. However, it apparently it came from an Irishmen in the 1700's who wrote a fictionalized account of a Chinese philosopher living in London. So, this "fake quote" has been circulating for a long time and has been connected to China for over 3 centuries!


I'm not too fond of the quote itself. Well, okay, it sucks. 

While the quote's strength is its ability to adapt to almost anyone's circumstances, I think its usual application is that it's likely to be used on inspirational posters in a high school's guidance counselor's office. I am being a bit of a curmudgeon, but these fake quotes just irritate me. If someone is motivated by the quote to do better in school or at work, then kudos to them. Keep on truckin' friends.

Ultimately, I'll side with Confucius on this one, but I'll quote from another great thinker, Viktor Frankel, "The salvation of man is through love and in love." That is human's greatest glory. Without love, "rising" back up ceases to have any real meaning.

Peru Fragments: Part V: The Dream That Came True

In the summer of 2014 I taught a short-term study abroad program to Peru. Here is my fourth post of fragments on the trip. Here was Part IV.

As we were driving down from Misminay, many in our group fell asleep. I usually can't sleep in cars and this was no exception. Just listened to a podcast and enjoyed the view driving down the mountainside.

We arrived back in Ollantanytambo to catch the train to Aguas Calenties, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu.  We checked into our hotel room and went out for dinner at a nice place (I forgot the name of it). I had a stuffed fried rococo pepper. It was awesome. We had a nice dinner where we actually had a pretty focused "class" discussion for a good while.

This was one of my favorite meals of the trip. Note the rococo sauce near the top right of my plate, which just gave it that extra spice kick that I love.  

According to the forecast on two different weather apps, there was an 80% chance of showers the next day. This chance of rain was really, really bumming me out. I couldn't believe my one day at Machu Picchu would be potentially ruined. I tried to convince myself that it wouldn't be that bad. I had a poncho and umbrella, and it couldn't rain the whole time we were there. Right?

We called it an early evening as our goal was to arrive at the peak just before sunrise. Our wake up time was 4:30 or something insane like. The streets of Aguas Calenties are packed with restaurants, bars and hotels. Our hotel was situated immediately next to a nice looking pub. It is no exaggeration to say the people in that bar sounded like they were having the time of their lives. I'm not even joking. It was a piano sing-along bar and it just sounded so fun. Any other time, I would have been up for having a drink and checking it out except for the fact that I was trying to get rest and wake up before dawn.  Eventually, the music didn't matter, because I was exhausted. I woke up sometime around 2:00 in the morning and discovered they were thankfully closed. I was additionally thankful that I fell right back asleep.

We got up on time but I felt like we couldn't move fast enough to get down to the bus site. The whole group seemed strangely more lethargic as we entered what I knew would be our peak experience.   Thankfully, there were some morning clouds but nothing looked menacing. As we stood in line for the bus, dawn approached. I was a little perturbed because the idea was to be up on the peak as the sun came up, but I had forgotten just because it was light outside, it didn't mean the sun had peaked over the mountains.

Traveling up the mountain.

You can see the first ray of sunshine just peaking over the ridge of mountains on the right. 

How do you feel when a dream comes true?  

I found myself in this very predicament atop one of the world's most beautiful places. 

I was restless and unable to really pay attention as much as I would have liked during our 1.5 hour tour. After the tour, I found myself walking around aimlessly alone, looking out upon the most breathtaking vistas imaginable.  Exploring the buildings I had wanted to explore as a kid. I felt overwhelmed and alone. My colleague was busy walking with with a student who almost never left his side, but I didn't really want to be around anyone either. Looking back, this was one of the times I missed my wife the most. I wanted to share this moment with my best friend. 

I tried to soak it all up, but whenever dreams come true, it always seems like focusing on the event itself, is the wrong way to do it. I usually find myself practicing mindfulness at least a few times a day but being at Machu Picchu the experience seemed hard to pin down. The hype I had given this moment (from age 11) couldn't possibly match reality, could it?

I think I'm a little tired at just the memory of climbing all those ancient steps. 

As you can see, there was no rain. I don't think American weather apps do well outside the US. 

Your intrepid blogger (he's the one wearing the hat) 

It was a truly amazing experience but did it or could it live up to my own personal hype?

Nope.

I think it was impossible with a few thousand people around me, but it came darn close. There were moments of clarity and mindfulness that I won't forget and for that, I am thankful. After lunch at the restaurant on site (good but expensive) we took a hike to the Sun Gate. After days of walking, hiking and climbing mountains, this hike was another killer for my tired legs but even still, great. The Sun Gate was nice and I can say I hiked some of the Inca Trail. I also peed on it, cause I had to (don't worry no one was looking and it was in the grass).  

Looking from the Sun Gate to the main site, the road below on the right is the road the bus takes to the top. 

We stayed at in the park until about 4:00 PM, meaning we where there for about 10 hours. We descended down back into Aguas Calenties to grab a bite to eat, pick up our luggage and catch the train back to Ollantanytambo. Before we would, there's another story to tell but I'll save that for the next entry.  One day I'll finish this blog series, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.