As long as there is breath left.(一息尚存)
The Analects of Confucius were not written by Confucius himself.
It records many conversations between Confucius
and his students, as well as their study notes.
It contains a passage from Zeng Shen, one of Confucius' students.
Zeng Shen said:
'An intellectual must cultivate a broad
mind, perseverance, and decisiveness. They should understand that they shoulder
important responsibilities and that their life goals are extremely lofty and
far-reaching.'
What is the most important responsibility
of an intellectual? It is to cultivate tolerance and kindness; to develop a
caring heart; to feel empathy and compassion for others.
Why are the life goals of an intellectual
so far-reaching?
This is because they understand that there
is no limit to self-improvement, and the pursuit of self-improvement will never
cease until death.
During the Southern Song dynasty in China,
there was a famous Confucian scholar named Zhu Xi. He wrote down his reading
notes in response to this passage.
Zhu Xi said:
'Only a person with a broad mind can fulfil
an intellectual's heaviest responsibilities.'
Only someone with resolute determination
can achieve an intellectual's most distant goals.'
Why does someone with tolerance and
kindness, who cultivates care, empathy and compassion, have such heavy
responsibilities?
It's because they understand these ideas
and put them into practice in their daily lives.
Why does someone who will not stop pursuing
self-improvement until death have such distant goals?
It's because they know that, as long as
there is breath left, they should never stop trying to better themselves; only
death can stop them.
This idiom literally means 'as long as
there is breath left'.
It is used to describe someone who is still
alive.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
have you gained from this story?
What is your ultimate goal in life? What
kind of person do you want to become?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
一息尚存(As long as there is breath left.)
著名的(孔夫子論語)這一本書不是孔子自已寫。
這本書中紀錄了很多孔子的他的學生們之間的對話內容，也記載了孔子的學生們的一些學習筆記。
這本書中記載了一段孔子一個名字叫做曾參的學生說的一段話。
曾參說。
一個知識份子必須培養自己成為一個心胸寬廣且堅毅果斷的人，一個知識份子應該知道自己承擔著很重要的責任，一個知識份子要達成的人生目標非常的遠大且非常的遙遠。
一個知識份子最重要的責任是什麼呢?這個責任就是讓自己具備寬容與善良的品德，讓自己具關懷別人的心與同理心和慈悲心。
一個知識份子的人生目標為何非常的遙遠呢?
這是因為他們理解成為更好的自己是沒有極限的，一個知識份子直到死亡才會停止自己對於成為更好的自己的追求。
在中國的南宋王朝時代。有一個著名的儒家的學者，他的名字叫做(朱熹)。
針對這段話，朱熹寫下他的讀書心得筆記。
朱熹說。
一個心胸寬廣的人才能夠完成一個知識份子最沉重的責任。
一個堅毅果斷的人才能夠完成一個知識份子最遙遠的目標。
一個具備寬容與善良的品德的人，一個讓自己具關懷別人的心與同理心和慈悲心的人，他的責任為何如此沉重?
這是因為他除了理解這些想法外還要把這些想實踐在他的日常生活中。
一個直到死亡才會停止自己對於成為更好的自己的追求的人，他的目標為何如此遙遠?
這是因為他知道只要自已還有一口氣息存在就不應該鬆懈，只有死亡才能夠讓他停止追求成為更好的自己。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是只要還有一口氣息存在。
這句成語被用來形容一個人還活著。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的人生的終極目標為何呢?你追求自己成為怎樣的人呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為宋-朱熹-四書章句集注-論語集注-泰伯