iWorth's Blog:

性相近, 习相远 are the ipsissima verba of Confucius, and form the chief dogma in Confucian ethics. It was vigorously upheld by Mencius, and opposed by Hsün K'uang of the 3rd cent. B.C. who held that the nature of man is radically evil, and also by Yang Hsiung who taught that it is neither one nor the other but a mixture of the two. ---- Herbert Allen Giles,  San Tzu Ching

Pinocchio, the wooden puppet, often led into trouble by his propensity to lie. His nose grew with every lie. Kant believes that his moral theory prohibits lying under all possible circumstances, even those where there is a murderer at the door wondering if the innocent victim is in your house. But Confucius codemns a son who testified against his father for appropriating a sheep. He said: ' The father conceals the wrongs of his son, and the son conceals the wrongs of his father. ' A person have to lie to conceals a wrongs, and Confucius believes this is justice. Confucius lied himself, too. Once, one of his disciples Ju Pei wished to see Confucius, who excused himself on the ground of sickness, but when his messenger had gone out at the door, he took up his harpsichord and began to sing, so that Ju Pei might hear it. A mother makes excuse for her daughter not to the party on the ground of chickenpox.

That the unicorn is a spiritual being is beyond all doubt. Hymned in the Odes, immortalised in Springs and Autumns, it has found a place in the writings of all ages. Women and children alike know that it is a portent of good. Yet it is reared in no farmyard: it is rarely ever seen throughout the empire's breadth. It is classed under no species. It is not of normal growth like a horse, ox, dog, pig, panther, wolf, or deer. Even were one to appear now, it would not be recognised for what it is. We see horns, and say, "That is an ox." We see a mane, and say, "That is a horse." And by a similar process we know dogs, pigs, panthers, and deer to be what they are. But the unicorn cannot be known. For Shu-sun to regard it as inauspicious, was therefore reasonable enough. On the other hand, for the unicorn to appear, there should be an All-wise in power: it is in token thereof that the unicorn does appear. Then the All-wise recognises the unicorn, and its manifestati...