2018. 3. 13. 13:05

A man's idea should be understood in terms of his sentiments. An idea begins to truly belong to a person when it grows beyond the wall of logic and reflects his real feelings. Then it will be an incarnation of the person, something departing from a dry, impersonal idea that depends solely on reason and logic. It is much the same with a society. Cultural values of a society cannot be judged from the level of its legal institutions alone. They can be better watched in the reality of the members' daily lives. (...)

That is why I find the real essence of a man's ideas in his heart, preserved in the form of sentiments. His feeling is the primary and immediate response to outside challenges, more honest than his thinking. When you have it, you do not need a sense of duty or a sense of justice to do what you have to do. Your mind just feels uneasy if you do not do it. Cultivating such feelings and sentiments is the best and surest way to enhance human characters. [Shenzi]

 

It is a point I disagree with the writer. It is much easier for me to try by way of thinking to behave properly, than to cultivate my feelings into moral perfectness. Even Confucius began to feel free to follow his desires only at the age of 70. I am too young for that. [orun]

 

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