短談《論語》

 

短談《論語》 short talks on "The Analects"  

《季氏》

子曰：「益者三友，損者三友。友直，友諒，友多聞，益矣。友便辟，友善柔，友便佞，損矣。」

The above is mostly translated into the following contemporary Chinese:

有益的朋友有三種，有害的朋友有三種。

正直的朋友、誠實的朋友、見多識廣的朋友，是有益的 ；

走邪門歪道的朋友、讒媚奉迎朋友、花言巧語朋友，是有害的。

 

May I ask "what is the difference between 正直 and 誠實?"

It seems to me  正直 and 誠實 come very close or sometimes interchangeable.

May be you can say 正直 = frank, 誠實 = honest ->  so they are different.

 

If you check back the original scripts, one is 直 and one is 諒.

To me, they means 2 different moral qualities.

直 = frank and honest

諒  = 寬容 = tolerant

 

In its context, 直 is the opposite of 善柔. I believe the original meaning of 諒 meant 寬容 (tolerant) rather than 誠實.

便 means the act of/behave, such as 辟 (歪) 佞(花言巧語)

 

So if you mean to learn from the web, look for reliable sources. Nowadays, most on the web copied from the same source. The 1^st one makes mistake, everybody makes mistake!

《里仁》

子曰：「朝聞道，夕死可矣。」 

It is a simple one, actually no need further explanation.

Some say, it has profound meaning：懂得了仁義的道理，就應該用自己的一生去實踐它，有時為了捍衛之，甚至不惜犧牲自己的生命。

Trust it or not, you yourselves to determine.

 

To me, these 2 phrases reflect each others. Let re-order the 2nd phrase a bit to 夕可死矣. You will find them a proper pair.

 

朝 - word of time

聞 –verb, word of action

道 - object about (here is about moral)

 

夕 - word of time

可 - verb, word of action

死 - object about (here is about death)

矣 - auxiliary

 

In simple English, it is:

“there is no regret in life once you understand the truth of morality”

一旦明白道德的真諦，人生便沒有遺憾了。