溫故知新 Old wisdom, today’s insight — ONGO
The Will of a Common Man Cannot Be Seized
Do I treat present hardship as a shame to hide, or as a will and love by which we cross over together?
You may seize the commander of a great army, but you cannot seize the will of a common man.
Confucius said you may seize the commander of a great army, but you cannot seize the will of a common man.
📝The Classic Answers
Confucius said you may seize the commander of a great army, but you cannot seize the will of a common man. Force and rank can be toppled from without, yet the will a person sets for themselves no one can wrest away. Young men who have come up from the country and earn a day by odd jobs on the city's edge are set amid contempt and poverty; but if they treat that hardship only as a shame to hide, the will breaks with it. Poverty, though, need not be shame — it can be a place to cross over together, leaning on one another. When they endure side by side instead of hiding the time at the bottom, that will bends to no wind. I choose to see present hardship not as a flaw to conceal but as a will we cross by together.
🌱Apply It Today
If you are passing through a hard time, rather than hiding it, share the will with someone beside you: "let us cross this together."
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
