The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 70
[China] Zhou Guoping

No matter how proud you are in vanity and love, if you fail as a person, you fail in life as a whole.

People live in the world, besides eating and sleeping, they are nothing more than doing things and interacting with people, which constitute the main content of life.Doing things includes doing things for the needs of making a living, which is the so-called professional business, and also includes doing things out of interests, hobbies, ambitions, ambitions, and a sense of mission, which is the so-called career.Interacting with people, including colleagues, neighbors, friends and so-called public relations, also includes love, marriage, family and other relationships connected by sex and blood, both of which are visible behaviors of people, and both There is a question of success, and its success is visible.If you are successful in both aspects, for example, on the one hand, you have a prosperous career and success, and on the other hand, you have a happy marriage and many friends, you can be said to be successful in society, and even your life can be said to be happy.In the eyes of others, you are an enviable lucky person.If it's the other way around, you'll be an unlucky person both in your own eyes and in the eyes of others.In this way, the success of doing things and communicating seems to be the main criterion for measuring the quality of life.

However, in addition to the visible behavior, there is also an invisible thing. In my opinion, it is more important than doing things and communicating, and it is the most important thing in life. This is being a human being.Of course, in fact, being a human being is not an independent behavior apart from doing things and communicating, but is contained in the two, and is an overall attitude towards life reflected through doing things and communicating.

As far as the relationship between being a person and doing things is concerned, being a person is not mainly reflected in what and how much you do, such as whether you are doing learning or doing business, how big your knowledge or business is, but how you do things and your attitude .Whether a person is engaged in learning or business, no matter how big or small he is, he may do well, or he may do badly. The key depends on how he does things.Some people in the academic world despise others for going into business, but because they are still doing academics, they put on an awe-inspiring aura.In fact, whether businessmen or scholars, there are gentlemen and villains, and it is impossible to generalize them.Some so-called scholars do not have their own real pursuit and achievements in academics. They blindly follow the fashion, grab the limelight, and seek profit only. They are more philistine than ordinary businessmen in their bones.

From how a person interacts with others, you can especially see his life.It doesn't depend on whether you are popular, whether you have many friends, or whether all kinds of interpersonal relationships are harmonious.Good popularity may be due to easy-going personality, or it may be due to smooth behavior, which cannot explain the problem in itself.In dealing with people, Confucius emphasized the word "faith" the most, which I think is right.Whether you treat people honestly and without deceit can best reflect whether a person's character is upright or not.Even if a person has friends all over the world, as long as he betrays one of his friends, we have every reason to doubt whether he really loves his friends, because if he thinks it is necessary, he will also betray other friends. "Being friends without trusting them" can only succeed in selfish desires for a while, but it is a big failure in life.

Whether things go smoothly in business and communication, including status, property, and reputation, as well as love, marriage, and family, are often subject to external factors and are beyond one's control, so they should not be the main goal of life.Of course, a person should not regard things beyond his control as the main goal of life.The only thing a person can really control is his attitude towards all these external situations, in short, how to behave.The most important thing in life is not happiness or misfortune, but to maintain the integrity and dignity of being a human being regardless of happiness or misfortune.I do think that being a person is more important than career and love.No matter how proud you are in vanity and love, if you fail as a person, you fail in life as a whole.The most important thing is not what position you occupy in the eyes of the world, who you live with, but what kind of person you are.

Heart mark notes
Harvard University behaviorist Pi Lux once had a famous saying: "Being a person is the beginning of doing things, and doing things is the result of being a person. People who fail to grasp these two points will always be marginalized!" Only proficient in the principles of life, Only by undergoing the experience of being a person can we have great ambitions and pretend to be big things, and only then can we achieve career success through a sound mind, abundant energy, and correct actions.

Being a person is a basic activity for a person to conduct himself in the world.In the big picture, it includes strategic moves to change the destiny of individuals; in the small picture, it includes people's daily behavior and even every move.It can be said that being a human being is our attitude towards life and career.Because of this, countless wise men at all times and in all over the world put being a human being in a supreme position.

(End of this chapter)