greatest wisdom book

Chapter 54 The Theory of Sentiments: Keeping Some Principles 1
Like a diamond buried deep, what's inside is more important than what's on the surface.Some people are completely superficial, like a house whose facade is only finished due to insufficient construction funds. The entrance is as splendid as a palace, but the inner room is as simple as a hut.A person who looks the same on the outside and looks like gold and stone, has a gorgeous appearance, but also has a noble inner sentiment.If one wants to become such a person, people must equip themselves with many virtues and sentiments, at least we should believe in justice and pay attention to humanity.

How can the evil way last forever
Killing citizens, betraying friends, lacking credit, no compassion, no faith, cannot be called a capable person. . . . A prince should be very careful not to let a word slip out of his mouth that would make you appear to be incapable of the above virtues.And pay attention to making those who see and hear the monarch feel that the monarch is a compassionate, faithful, humane, and devout person.

——"Chapter 8 Those Who Obtained Kingship by Evil Ways"

There are all kinds of people in this world, and there are not a few people who have achieved success through treachery. Sometimes, it is the liar who is cast aside by us who becomes the rich man.But the way of liars will certainly not last long, they will be exposed sooner or later, and they will be stigmatized, and we never think of them as capable people.

This is like an unscrupulous monarch. If he wants to be a wise monarch, faithfulness and humanity are the qualities and consciousness he must possess. Without this kind of humanity consciousness, he is just a tyrant, not a great man with achievements.For example, the Sicilian Agathocles was an outstanding leader, but his personality was cast aside by later generations.

Agathocles was originally a commoner, and an inferior and despicable person, but he rose to become the king of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy.Agathocles was the son of a potter, but from his youth he was full of ambitions.After he joined the military, he was promoted several times and became the magistrate of Syracuse. At this point, he was determined to become a king, relying on violence instead of relying on the help of others to embark on the road of conquest.He first pretended to summon the rich men and elders of Syracuse, ostensibly to discuss with them about the state affairs of the republic, but in fact he besieged them and slaughtered them like lightning, and then took control of the ruling power of the city.Then he pretended to be in civil strife in the country, and then lured the Carthaginian leader Amilcare, who had plots against Syracuse, to attack there.Amilcare, who didn't know that he had been tricked, was really fooled and attacked Syracuse with a large number of troops.While Agathocles attacked Carthage's troops in Sicily, he sent troops across the sea to attack another nest of Carthage - Africa.As a result, the Carthaginians, who were attacked from both sides, had to make peace with Agathocles, and Amilcare gave Sicily to Agathocles in desperation.

Careful observation of Agathocles' actions and career, it is not difficult to find that this man never relied on luck, but relied entirely on strength and cunning to achieve success; he deceived those who believed in him, and at the same time he played with his enemies Palm, the method can be described as vicious.

It’s been said that to be successful you have to be mean, but the vast majority of successful people have a big heart.The infamy of the rulers who are cruel and ruthless is far louder than the fame. Although later generations tried to defend them for a while, they could never conceal their viciousness.In modern society, it is even more unfeasible to rely on deception and plunder to achieve success without virtue.What this kind of person may gain is fortune, but it is definitely not reputation, and once he is discovered, he will be reduced to a place of eternal doom.

Dale Carnegie once said: "It doesn't take long for anyone's credit to be ruined. Even if you are a very cautious person, you only need to ignore and follow through occasionally, no matter how good your reputation is, it will be destroyed immediately. Damaged. Therefore, it is extremely important to develop the habit of being cautious."

The various qualities of people are like credit.When you lose any of it when you are not careful, the tower of your personality begins to crumble.Every time you lose one, you put yourself at risk.When you give up more than half, you will crash and fall.The ancient Chinese believed in benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, and believed that each of them was very important. They are like the morals that a monarch should possess, such as "compassionate, faithful, humane, and devout."These qualities should be firmly adhered to by people. They are the touchstones of the life of an accomplished person. Once you lose them, you will never become a treasure of innocence.

(End of this chapter)