How Difficult it is to Know a Person?

Last few days ago, I read a book and discovered one of the stories drew my immediate attention. As usual, I would like to share with you here. 

The story is from Confucius on how difficult to know a person. 

I'm not the fans of Confucius, but this story led me to agree of what He found out. Most of the times, we trust with what we hear and see and make decision immediately. In fact, that's not always the 'real' fact. Let's begin  with the story...

During Confucius travel, He was delayed in the States of Chen. He was without food for a week. 

One day, one of his disciples, Yan Hui found some rice and cooked it. When the rice was almost done, Confucius accidentally walked into the kitchen and noticed that Yan took a small bit of rice and ate it. Even though Confucius saw this, he did not say anything. 

When Yan Hui invited Confucius to eat, Confucius said: “I’ve just dreamed of my father, Yan Hui. The clean rice should be offered to him as sacrifice.” Yan Hui immediately replied: “Some soot feel into the rice moments ago. It would be a pity to throw the whole pot away, so I picked out the contaminated rice and ate it. Since I’ve eaten some of them, the rest is not clean anymore, and therefore it cannot be offered as sacrifice.” 

Confucius regretted questioning Yan Hui’s honesty, and signed, “That which is most believable is what one sees, but one cannot always trust his eyes. That which is most reliable is what one thinks, but one cannot always trust his brain. Disciples, you should remember how difficult it is to know a person.”

I hope you get the moral of the story. 

Well, I understand that we might feel very uncomfortable if we see or hear something but we take no action. We all agreed that the world has changed and people are becoming more selfish nowadays. Sometimes, I feel it's better to find a smart way to question indirectly first rather than trust entirely or act on it.

Like Confucius said, we should understand how difficult it is to know a person. Perhaps we should learn more wisdom from Confucius.

Have fun, folks.