Quote of the Day

It's been a while since I've posted a "quote of the day" but I was reading some Confucius (surprise) and came across this little truth nugget. It's from 17:26 in the Analects.

  “One who has reached the age of forty and is disliked, will be disliked to the end.” - Confucius

Confucius Didn't Say That!: Moving Mountains Edition

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.

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".

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.

For the sake of Fragments

I've been away from the dying world of blogging (wait, this is a still a blog right?)

Some fragments of the current status of the world that surrounds me:

I really despise Ted Cruz. I mean of course I despise his politics but I am really talking about his face. His face upsets me. And his voice. But it's really his face.

What's with weird turtle-like republicans like Mitch McConnell and Ted. Maybe there's a hidden underground city of very conservative turtle folk?  I say BUILD A WALL and keep them turtle people out. I know, I know I just dehumanized Republicans and that's bad. I know it's mean but it's all in good-hearted fun. And it's true, too. 

Here's a video I love. I

God Bless Vic Berger, truly a hero in the Age of Trump.

Summer came and went in case you didn't notice. Also, South Texas has turned into the Pacific Northwest with rain and clouds on a near daily basis. I don't like it. Enough complaining about the weather, what am I, an old man? (yes).

I am growing a beard. Yeah, I know you don't know me (wait, Philip do you still read this?). It took me three weeks to get it decent. I think I am on week five. I pretty much look like an English professor (for those scoring at home I am a Humanities professor, so I am really really close to reaching peak "me").

SELF INDULGENT BEARD FRAGMENTS BREAK

• It's growing in red. That's cool with me. Also, no gray hairs.
• Important aside:  I am 41 and not a gray hair in sight. yet.  I would brag about this but I don't think anyone really cares either way and they are bound to show up at some point soon. 
• I find myself looking in the mirror more often just because it's like, "Wait, is that me?" and it takes a second for my brain to realize, that yes, indeed it's me with a red beard. 
• Sides still coming in slow but steady.Still not fast enough. I think I will keep it at least through winter. I dunno I could get crazy one weekend and shave the whole thing off. 

My car died two weeks ago and it made me sad. Some people at work were showing their privilege and like, "oh exciting, you get a new car!" with a smile and I was like...."Uh, no. We don't make a lot of money, I would rather not spend that money right now". Some people don't understand my wife works part-time and we ain't raking it in compared to many in my cohort of educated families. 

The car that died was my grandmother's car that I bought from my uncles when she died six years ago. I kinda got a little sad cleaning it out the other day, but what am I to do? It had been a decent car for us for six years, thanks Maw Maw!

The car was really getting to be junky more and more. It was a 2005, so it was time.

We finally got a new(er) car yesterday. I am happy I have a car that works. Let's hope nothing else goes wrong or breaks (but it likely will).

Music UPDATE That no one cares about

Really into Summer Salt. Like the Beach Boys. Check 'em out. Obsessed with their Driving to Hawaii EP. Here, random person who I will never meet. Click here and enjoy.




Went to a conference in Philadelphia in late September. It was such a great experience. The city was awesome, public transport was amazing and I loved the museum. I saw so many pieces I studied in college and turned into a joyful fanboy.  Also, the conference was pretty okay as well.

Supposed to finish a blog about my experiences in The Wizard of Oz but can never seem to finish it or want to finish it. I might be helping out at the same church with a Nativity (I think reading, I dunno but the director seemed excited). Also, my BEARD will be coming in handy. Oh, I do feel more manly.

Final note: I am not going to be one of those douche bag beard guys. Don't worry.

Our study stateside program has almost been given the ultimate blessing....now, its just up to us to recruit students. I think we'll be good. The program will be amazing....super excited.

Also, I applied for a FREE program for professors to go to India in January. I actually think I have a shot at it....but who knows? Should find out in the next two weeks.

That's all for now folks, don't forget to schedule your next oil change and feed the fish.