Going Too Far Is as Bad as Falling Short

answered by Analects of Confucius, Xian Jin

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🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

dir. David Lean · UK·USA

Even a right principle, held too tightly, forgets its purpose and becomes the purpose itself. When pride and conviction cross a certain line, even what one began for is overturned. Where does the straight part from the stubborn, conviction from madness?

THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS

Holding too tightly to a principle I believe right, have I forgotten even why it was right?

THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL

過猶不及

📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER

Going too far is as bad as falling short.

💡 TL;DR

Confucius said excess is as much a fault as falling short — even rightness has its fitting measure.

📝The Classic Answers

Confucius said excess is as much a fault as falling short — even rightness has its fitting measure. Pride and conviction are good, but past a certain line they forget their purpose and become the purpose themselves. The moment what one began for is overturned, the straight turns stubborn and conviction turns to madness. Before priding myself on holding firmly to a principle, I choose first to look back at whether it has overshot its fitting measure.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

If you pushed a principle to the end today, check whether it overshot its measure and became the purpose itself.

📖 Classic Source: Analects of Confucius, Xian Jin. 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.