greatest wisdom book

Chapter 7 Walking on the Elegant Scale 6
A genuine reputation is a lasting reputation

We like fame, but it is hard to come by because it comes from excellence, and excellence is rare, just as mediocrity is common, and once acquired it is easy to keep.Reputation takes many promises and is earned by doing many things.If it comes from noble birth and noble behavior, it has a majestic appearance.A genuine reputation is a reputation that really lasts.

Fame is power of name, power of mind, power of pure culture.Fame makes a large number of people know and remember a person's name, pays attention to his situation, recognizes his unusualness, and induces them to worship, admire, envy and even hate him.Fame is to change people's thoughts and feelings and manipulate people's psychology through personal names. Therefore, reputation is a kind of psychological force and psychological power.

Fame is often an incubator of status and achievement, and its influence is staggering.When the "Choral Symphony", one of Beethoven's greatest works, premiered in Vienna, the capital of music, it had as many as five curtain calls.When the king made his debut on stage, he only had three curtain calls.Beethoven's musical achievements brought him more fame than the authority of the king. When he died, the people of Vienna rushed to hold a grand funeral for him.For great people, fame is much more important than many things, even more than life.

In a person's short life, whether he is unknown or famous in history, reputation plays the role of watershed.Only reputation can fully reflect the value of a person's life.Reputation is irreplaceable, and people who are accompanied by rich clothes, fine food, luxury houses and famous cars are also contemptible if they do things that damage their reputation.Reputation is an intangible wealth higher than material wealth.No matter how powerful a person is, if he can't benefit society, such as Hitler and his ilk, they will only be left with a bad reputation forever.It can be seen that reputation is an intangible power higher than tangible power.It is sublime and majestic.

Some people say: It is easy to keep a person from lying for a while, but it is difficult to keep him from lying for a lifetime.The same is true of reputation, which is easy to maintain, but it can also come crashing down in the face of your little mistakes or missteps.For people, to cherish one's reputation should be like loving one's self.

There is such a story, which can just illustrate the importance of reputation.A group of young people who are about to become architects after further studies, under the leadership of an old professor with white temples like snow, visited a newly completed building that needed to be demolished.Because the architect of the building accepted bribes and modified a series of data related to the quality of the project in the design plan... The blasting explosives are filling the wet cement wall foundation, and the building is about to be blown up. The loss will be several times that of the building.This situation shocked everyone present.

At the grand graduation ceremony of the Maryland Institute of Architecture, the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright said in his speech: "A building is an architect's reputation. This reputation will not fall from the sky. It must come from a brick." , a slab. What is a brick? That is a real brick. What is a slab? That is a real slab. All this comes from the quality of the architect - real, upright and noble quality!"

The quality and appearance of the buildings designed by architects are the source of the architect's reputation. If he loses these, no matter how much wealth he gets, his reputation will be ruined and he will not be able to gain a foothold in this industry.

Power and wealth can be enjoyed by a person when he is alive, but after his death, all these are no longer allowed to him, and no longer belong to him.But reputation is different. As long as you have truly made a significant impact on society and human beings, you can get a great reputation. This reputation has been yours since the first day you got it, and it will always be yours.It has been more than 2000 years since Confucius passed away, but he has been highly respected during these 2000 years. Every major viewpoint of his has been repeatedly studied, discussed and criticized by countless scholars, scientists, politicians, and common people.People knew him when he was alive; people remembered him more than 2000 years after his death.Although he has passed away for 2000 years, his spirit will never die.The reputation of Confucius has traveled through time and space, and it still has influence today.

Once the reputation is stable, its charm is subtle and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.A celebrity once said: "Although reputation is not the real principle and standard of virtue, it is the closest to the real principle and standard of virtue." When people have a reputation, their virtue will be elevated unconsciously To the extent that everyone respects, then we will discover that our own personality can be so beautiful and extraordinary.

(End of this chapter)