In Want, Cultivate Yourself; in Reach, Better the World

answered by Mencius, Jin Xin I

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🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS

Pay It Forward (2000)

dir. Mimi Leder · USA

A child's idea proposes passing goodwill forward to others instead of repaying it. Does such an ideal end as naive daydream, or leave seeds in many hearts even if it is not completed before one's eyes?

THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS

Can one person's small goodwill really become a wave that changes the world?

THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL

窮則獨善其身達則兼善天下

📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER

In want, cultivate yourself alone; when you reach, better the whole world with you.

💡 TL;DR

Mencius said in want cultivate yourself alone, and when you reach, better the world with you.

📝The Classic Answers

Mencius said in want cultivate yourself alone, and when you reach, better the world with you. Good does not begin after conditions are met; it begins here, in your own place, however little you hold. A small goodwill one person gives becomes a wave when, unrepaid, it flows forward again. Even if that wave is not completed before your eyes, the seed has already been sown in many hearts. Rather than the scale of changing the world, I think first of one goodwill to pass forward from where I stand.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

Instead of repaying a help you received today, pick one small goodwill to pass forward to three others.

📖 Classic Source: Mencius, Jin Xin I. Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
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.