What does this quote mean?

Question

"The heart of the wise,
like a mirror,
should reflect all objects,
without being sullied by any."

~ Confucius, c. 550-478 BC

CHINESE PHILOSOPHER

Answer 1

basicaly its stating that a strong and wise person will reflect his surroundings and situations without being attached to them. like not getting attached to materialistic and shallow things.

its like the "zen" approach in buhddism

Answer 2

Confucius here is giving guidelines on how to be wise like him. He is revealing how he learned the things he knows.

He trained his heart, although characteristically easy prey to feelings, to look and listen to all things and reflect each one of them. But, like a mirror, while his heart is reflecting each one of them, he is careful not to allow his heart to be stained or affected by any of what it is reflecting. That's how he comes up with good conclusions and draws new ideas that he can be sure really came from him and are not at all biased or just fed on to him by anyone.

In other words, he is saying that an unbiased point of view is a signature of all wise people. He is also saying that the wise is able to use his heart, instead of just his mind, to come up with good conclusions.

Answer 3

This means that the heart of a wise man always remains unattached to all wordly physical appearances with whom it comes into contact although the heart of the wise does gets affected by such appearances, but such appearances cannot have any detrimental affect on the wise like a mirror is not sullied by the image of person who may be covered in filth and who sees himself in that mirror.The heart of the wise man reflects the filth but never gets dirty itself and always remains detached.

Answer 4

Here he using a mirror as an analogy for the heart. The heart like a mirror should reflect all things around it, but not let one of its reflections smug its surface. A wise heart will reflect dirt - as dirt is a component of the environment. However, a wise heart should not let dirt smug or taint its surface.

Answer 5

Confucious teachings are basically about "ren" or "jen" which means humanity or being human. His teachings were used as guides of the ancient chinese on morality and other social issues. Basically he teaches us on how to be better humans.
Usually he associates heart with love or emotions and mirrors with judgement or justice. Taking these into consideration this quote should mean " Wise men should judges things fairly and should not let their emotions control them".

Answer 6

A wise man knows well the realities of life.He knows how to live life intelectually.He is aware of the ups and downs of life.
So, he should preach his wisdom, wether he likes it or not.
He shouldnt impose his point of view on people, rather he should guide them correctly.
Thats all that I can explain.
Hope it helps you.

Answer 7

Perhaps, this story will clarify the quote.

A young prince decided to test the Buddha by repeatedly insulting him.

After many cruel comments, Buddha asked the prince:
"If you were to offer me a gift, but I refused to accept it, to whom would the gift belong."

The prince replied. "Why to me, of course."

"That is correct." said Buddha. "So if you offer me an insult, and I refuse to accept it, does not the insult belong to you?"


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The heart of the Buddha was not sullied by the insults of the prince. The insults were reflected.

Answer 8

It potential that The Cat is having chicken for Dinner this night, little doubt approximately it. The Cat would be steadfast in his pursuit of that darn fowl and make that fact actual. that's what it potential! Darn fowl, The Cat desires his elegance sleep! i'm going to coach that cock!

Answer 9

Perhaps Confucius is advising us to consider all possible outlooks on life, but don't allow yourself to fall prey to the illusion of certainty?

Consider everything, accept nothing.

Answer 10

Don`t let bad things spoken or deeds done to you make u feel unworthy, try to understand why they occurred in the first place, then don`t hold a grudge.