greatest wisdom book

Chapter 63 Game Law: Harmony is the most important thing in life 5
self-preservation method
A monarch is to appear merciful, faithful, humane, upright, godly, and to do so.But at the same time, you must be mentally prepared and make arrangements: when you need to change course, you must be able and know how to make a 180-degree change.

——"Chapter 18 How a Monarch Should Keep His Promise"

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates once argued with people about the topic of honesty.

On this day, Socrates came to the Athens market as usual.He grabbed a passer-by and said, "I'm sorry! I have a question that I don't understand. I would like to ask you for advice. Everyone says to be a moral person, but what is morality?"

The man replied: "It is moral to be loyal and honest, and not to deceive others."

Socrates asked again: "But why do our generals do everything possible to deceive the enemy when fighting the enemy?"

"It is moral to deceive one's enemies, but immoral to deceive one's own."

Socrates retorted: "When our army was surrounded by the enemy, in order to boost morale, the general lied to the soldiers that our reinforcements had arrived, and everyone tried their best to break out of the encirclement. As a result, they succeeded. Isn't this kind of deception immoral? ?”

The man said, "That was done out of helplessness in war, and it is immoral to do so in daily life."

Socrates asked again: "If your son is sick and refuses to take medicine, as a father, you lie to him and say that this is not medicine, but a delicious food. Is this also unethical?"

The man had to admit: "This kind of deception is also ethical."

Socrates asked again: "It is moral not to lie, and it can also be said to be moral to lie. That is to say, morality cannot be explained by whether or not to lie. So what can be used to explain it? Or would you please tell me!"

The man thought for a while and said, "If you don't know morality, you can't be moral. If you know morality, you can be moral."

Socrates took the man's hand and said: "You are such a great philosopher! You told me about morality and made me understand a problem that has puzzled me for a long time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

Socrates showed people a very obvious truth.Morality is not rigid and has no absolute boundaries.It is difficult for people to grasp its scale, because it will change according to the timing, place and nature of things. Therefore, when people abide by a certain aspect of morality, they must vary from person to person, time to time, and situation to situation.Just like the quality of sincerity, you are sincere to some people, but to some people, such as villains and bad people, you must use lies to deceive them to protect yourself; or when something is not good for you, sincerity is more likely to get you into trouble At this time, sincerity is not advisable.

Once upon a time, there was a man who loved to tell the truth, he told the truth about everything, so no matter where he went, he was always chased away.In this way, he became impoverished and had nowhere to live.Finally, he ends up in a monastery, hoping to be taken in.The abbot of the monastery met him, and after asking the reason, he thought that those who "love the truth and tell the truth" should be respected, so he left him in the monastery to settle down.

There were some animals in the monastery that were no longer useful, and the abbot wanted to sell them, but he dared not send his men to the market, for fear that they would keep the money from the sale of the animals in their pockets.So he asked the man to bring two donkeys and a mule to the market to sell.

The man only told the truth in front of the buyer, saying: "The donkey with the broken tail is very lazy and likes to lie in the mud. Once, the long-term workers tried to pull it out of the mud, but they pulled it hard and broke the tail. This bald ass was so stubborn that he didn't want to walk a step, so they whipped him because he was so much whipped that his hair was bald; and the mule was old and lame. If he could do the job, why should the abbot sell them?"

As a result, the buyers left after hearing these words.As soon as these words spread in the market, no one came to buy the animals.So the man drove them back to the monastery at night.

The dean asked what was going on, and the man repeated what he had said in the market.The abbot said to the man in a rage: "My friend, those who drive you away are right. You should not be kept. I like the truth, but I don't like the truth that is against my pocket." !So, boy, get out of here, and go wherever you like!"

In this way, the man was driven away again.

In fact, the encounter of the "honest man" in the story is not accidental, and there are many similar examples in real life.We must realize that there is a great distance between how people actually live and how people should live.A man is not preserving himself but destroying himself if he forsakes what other people do for the sake of what he ought to do.Therefore, when observing some morality, if it is beneficial to oneself and others, then it should be followed. If it is meaningless, it will even harm more people. It is not advisable to stick to principles and believe in eternal morality.Appropriate change of course is the way of life.

(End of this chapter)