BLA BLA BLA BE VIRTUOUS BLA BLA BLA

The Analects are getting really boring right now since Confucius keeps talking about the same things and repeating himself. Seriously, what’s wrong with him? Maybe getting old is affecting his memory and forces him to say the same stuff over and over again. I can’t even mention the millions of times that I have seen the word virtue in the teachings. Still, there have been some points that I have liked. Some of these are:

“The subjects on which the Master did not talk, were-extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings.” (7:21)

Ok, so why is this interesting? I just love the fact of how in the Analects there is not a spiritual being, such as God, but there is just this normal old man who has his teachings to offer. Actually, I had never seen this in other religions and I like how everything written by Confucius is so realistic and related to how society really is. For example, in the Bible we can find this unrealistic-fictional things (such as Moses opening the sea and Noah´s ark), while here the teachings are based on how life really is.

“The Master said, "When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them." (7:22)

When I saw this aphorism, the first thing that came to my mind was peer pressure. I can relate a lot to this since a lot of my friends have great characteristics and I learn from them, but as well, they have bad qualities. This is the case with one of my best friends. She is so cool and makes me laugh a lot, but sometimes she can be so mean with everyone else. So, basically, according to Confucius, you may learn from others by applying their good qualities and avoiding their bad ones. This also reminded me of that weird bumper sticker that says:

"You cry, I cry, you laugh, I laugh, you fall off a cliff, I laugh even harder."

Well, this bumper sticker reflects how if your friend decides to do something bad, you have to take the good path and avoid the bad qualities of your friend.

These were the maxims that I mostly found amusing. I am really enjoying how the book has so many political and leadership information and I hope that Confucius stops repeating himself and makes the lecture more entertaining.