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Governing
Be filial, only be filial and friendly with your brothers, and you will be helping the administration of the country - Confucious (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, p. 13, ii 21)
Reform bad habits, do our business in the light of day - Barack Obama (inauguration speech, January 20, 2009, speaking to the government)
Community begins in mystery and ends in administration. Leaders move away from people and into paper.- Jean Vanier
Humanness
Seek first to understand, then to be understood - Covey
In their nature at birth men are nearly alike, in their habits they are vastly different. - Confucious (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, p. 19, xviii 2)
Inclusion
...do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you. (Luke 9:49-50 ESV)
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and thos who are mistreated since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:1-3 ESV)
Loneliness seems to be an essentially human experience. It is not just about being alone. Loneliness is not the same thing as solitude. We can be alone yet happy, because we know that we are part of a family, a community, even the universe itself. Loneliness is a feeling of not being part of anything, of being cut off. It is a feeling of being unworthy, of not being able to cope in the face of a universe that seem to work against us. Loneliness is a feeling of being guilty. Of what? Of existing? Of being judged? By whom? We do not know. Loneliness is a taste of death. - Jean Vanier (Becoming Human, p. 33)
Today as never before, we need communities of welcome; communities that are a sign of peace in a world of war. There is no point in praying for peace in the Middle East, for example, if we are not peace-makers in our own community; if we are not forgiving those in our community who have hurt us or with whom we find it difficult to live. Young people, as well as those who are older, are sensitive to this vision of peace. It must continually be announced so that hearts and minds are nourished. Jean Vanier, (Community and Growth, p. 177)
Integrity and Morality
Moral power does not live alone. It is sure to have neighbours - Confucious (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, p. 21, iv 25)
There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. - Samuel Johnson
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Leadership
The Master said, 'A man of true breeding is easy to serve but hard to please; for if you try to please him by any other means than the Way, he is not pleased. When he sets men to their tasks, it is appropriate tools for appropriate jobs. A man of no breeding is hard to serve but easey to please for you can please him by other means than the Way. But when it is a matter of setting men tasks, he expects them to be ready for anything.' - Confucious (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, p. 22 xiii 25)
The possession of high station without generosity, the conduct of ritual without reverence, the discharge of mourning duties without grief, these are things I cannot bear to see - Confucious (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, p. 13, iii 20)
Your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy - Barack Obama, (inauguration speech, January 20, 2009,, speaking to the leaders of the world) Learning
In a hamlet of ten households you would find somebody as conscientious and as trustworthy as I am, but not one as devoted to learning as I am - Confucious (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, p. 14, v.27)
Relationships
The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right. - Hannah Whitall Smith, (1902)
Wisdom
Even in our sleep, pain which we cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
We are always hearing of people who are around seeking after the Truth. I have never seen a (permanent) specimen. I think he has never lived. But I have seen several entirely sincere people who thought they were (permanent) Seekers after the Truth. They sought diligently, persistently, carefully, cautiously, profoundly, with perfect honesty and nicely adjusted judgment- until they believed that without doubt or question they had found the Truth. That was the end of the search. The man spent the rest of his hunting up shingles wherewith to protect his Truth from the weather. - Mark Twain, - "What is Man?"
Work
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, - Ecclesiastes 2:24 NIV
It does not seem to be true that work necessarily needs to be unpleasant. It may always have to be hard, or at least harder than doing nothing at all. But there is ample evidence that work can be enjoyable, and that indeed, it is often the most enjoyable part of life. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990) Meaningful work is one of the most important things we can impart to children. Meaningful work is work that is autonomous. Work that is complex, that occupies your mind. And work where there is a relationship between effort and reward — for everything you put in, you get something out…If you are convinced that the work you are doing is meaningful, then curiosity, there’s no cost to it. - Gladwell (Interview, December 19, 2008) |