Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 3.djvu/99
PROPAGANDA AND RELIGIONS
He will never try to save his life at the expense of his moral character. He esteems what is right of the highest importance. A gentleman who has valour but is without a knowledge and love of what is right is likely to commit a crime.
A gentleman in presence of danger should be ready to give up his life; in view of personal advantage he should think of what is right; in worship he should be devout and serious; in mourning he should show heartfelt grief.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IDEAL MAN
A wise man will not make himself into a mere machine set only to do one kind of work.
A wise and good man is one who acts before he speaks and afterwards speaks according to his actions.
A wise man is impartial, not neutral. A fool is neutral, but not impartial.
If you fix your mind upon a moral life, you will be free from evil.
Riches and honours are objects of men’s desire; but if I cannot have them without leaving the path of duty, I would not have them. Poverty and a low position are objects of men’s dislike; but if I cannot leave them without leaving the path of duty, I would not leave them.
A wise man never for one single moment in his existence loses sight of a moral life; in moments of haste and hurry, as in moments of danger and peril, he always clings to it.
If a man were really to exert himself for one single day to live a moral life, I do not believe he would find that he had not the strength to do so.
A wise man in his judgment of the world has no predilections or prejudices; he is on the side of what is75