A good teacher inspires the students
Lately, or not so lately, Clara’s form teacher had given birth and now was unable to teach in the school. Relief teachers were called for, at least two. Ever since the change of teachers, I did not see the enthusiasm in her studies — coming home with ‘no words’ to share. When Mdm Chua was teaching her, she came home always saying,”today teacher says….” or even asked me questions! But the relief teachers now, she also told me, “lousy”, “always asked the children to do this and that…” I asked the names of the relief teachers. At the time of change, she told me that the Principal had told them about it. But we parents are not informed of the change. (Even for my son’s case, their Chinese Class also undergoes several changes last year, but I was not informed of any changes. I called the teachers, and NO HELP at all…. what kind of collaboration is this?)

Relief Teachers
I was told that the relief teachers were very experienced teachers. I had seen ‘older generation’ teachers, fat, thin, Malay, Chinese, men and women. Sometimes the ‘older generation’ teachers did not ‘brush’ up on their skills, did not ‘upgrade’ themselves, and their ‘knowledge’ remain stagnant. Consider the education of last time, what the people used to study; and compared it with now, our Primary School Students are learning more things than the last generation of Primary School Students.

Work Load of Teachers
Teachers need to mark a lot of things, and it is not easy to be teachers. There are demanding parents you have to entertain, there are lots of responsibilities not only over the children’s academic areas, but also their safety in the school. In the school, the teachers still have other duties to cover… and plus their own personal life after work…. But these are the things you ought to know and be prepared if you want to ‘earn the money’.

Answer Sheet
Multiple Choice question is the easiest to mark. 1,2,3 or 4; or a, b, c, or d. Clear-cut marking. But when it comes to open-ended question, teachers need to read each and single questions….. very time-consuming and ‘headache’ especially for higher Primaries — there are so many pages! (I look at my son’s exam papers, I also feel ‘giddy’…. imagine the poor teachers need to mark for 43 pupils in the class!)

(a) Describe, meaning what you see…. Based on the drawing, the stem is indeed thin.
(b) The stem creep up the fence because it cannot stand upright itself. It needs support so it can stand. Why wrong?
So this is one of the ‘Specified questions’ I asked the relief teacher to look into.

The first day returned the papers, with no answers/corrections done. As usual, I am not satisfied with some of the markings… I wrote a letter to the teacher, asking her to go through the specified questions…

The next day, the relief teacher called me, and explained to me. After that corrections was done…

Model Answer: (a) The plant has a weak stem.
(b) It creeps to get maximum sunlight.
Are you plants before? What is really meant by weak? If the plant is weak, would it have ENERGY to CLIMB up the fence? Are you describing what you see or ‘Interpreting’ what you think of the plant?

No marks were given or awarded to any of the ’specified questions’(I was not satisfied with the answers). But who am I? I am not even a qualified teacher! People teaching in the school! I go fly kite!

How is the electromagnet useful? Model Answer: The electromagnet will separate magnetic materials from non-magnetic materials. This is what the electromagnet CAN DO. Isn’t it what the electromagnet does? But when we want to talk about USEFULNESS, what is usefulness? Useful means how it can HELP people, how it can HELP people to reduce time and reduce energy. To move or transfer vehicles (scrap cars, damaged vehicles) from one place to another and even to stack up the vehicles is its usefulness!

Why the fish die? The oil caused the fish to die, is it wrong? Children’s brain, Primary 3 only, and simple answer like that is wrong! Only more complex answer like “there is not enough oxygen to make the fish stay alive” then is perfect answer??? (1 mark only!!! so simple question yet so difficult…)

Or Would You Prefer Suffocation
When I squeeze your nose, do not allow you to breathe, do you say you died of ‘no air’ or do you say you die of ‘not enough oxygen’?

Science, Do you know everything under the sun?
Aren’t you confusing the kids even more like that? I, 大学生(Da Xue Sheng), University graduate, From National University of Singapore, I dare not say I know everything. I have many things yet to discover. Say what you want about 大学生, and see our NUS standard, our MOE standard, our teachers in Singapore…..

I considered myself a blessed person, have whatever things which I prayed for. I never asked for wealth, but I only want and really want protection, and safety for my families, and of course, must have the minimum amount, ability to survive with enough money to spend. This is what I ask for. Prayer answered, a happy family of Four I have, all my parents, brothers and sister’s families all safe and sound.

I am not bullshitting, but I always prayed for the safety of my parents and my family and I had asked for a boy. I was happy that my first baby is a boy. I hoped for a girl and I was happy that I got a girl, making a perfect match, a boy and a girl in my little family, the ‘animal farm’.

Even though we have no wealth, but I am blessed with good health and my children are healthy, pretty and handsome. My husband has good health also. Unlike other couples, we have no worries about conception or fertility problems at all. We have perfect normal lives. For couples who have difficulties in their sexual life, some drugs might help. Recover your virility and manhood with Viagra or you might even find Female Viagra or Viagra Oral Jelly at The US Drugs, the number one drugs shop!

It was this day this special day 7.6.08, 3 months from the day I last heard this hymn — I heard the ’scary’ song again… Great Is The Love. (I will put it up again later, phobia.) It was a very nice hymn, I like the tune so much. Never did I know that it had such a ‘great effect’ and ‘great impact’ on me. It was so coincidentally 8th March 2008 I last recorded the song in the church of St Anthony of Padua, and it was this song now that I searched back ‘history’ in my folder, and I know it was 8th March 2008, International Women’s Day.

It was a long story, and it was unbelievable, scary and still have ‘PHOBIA‘. I REMEMBERED everything which happened, but the time I was not aware. I was not crazy, I was not mad, I was not out of mind, but……

My mother’s little nursery, full of love she showered, full of returns she reaped…beautiful and healthy plants, blossoms after blossoms I see……

The day after we went to church on 8.3.08, the next day was 9.3.08. The children went for Catechism class as usual. Richard, me and my brother went to my mother’s house to take vegetables. There, I took photographs of her plants. Her plants are always so well looked after. Just Sunday, I went to her house, all her plants were still so nice, growing so healthily, despite her busy schedule, and stressful life at work. This is how thoughtful, how caring and how responsible my mother is, but she is uneducated, she always says the words know her, she don’t know the words.

Easter Balloon = Easter Egg and sweet put in a paper container done by Clara during her Catechism class. Vanessa also made the same thing, but I think she had two balloons.

Stayed for a while at mother’s house. Was sad, sitting at her sofa, did not know what to say, about what I experienced — The fact that Jesus came, which is real… Tried to control my feelings only, and see how things go…

Soon the time was up and we left my mother’s house. At the church, the children were not released yet. At the church, all the parents were waiting at the foyer and staircase, standing, chatting and some doing nothing. I was taking pictures, walking around, when someone asked everybody to step aside, the dead people’s bus (don’t know what English word is that, cannot remember) was coming. At first, I don’t even know what was the meaning of the word which the man said. I asked Richard and he did not know also. But soon, the sight of the bus was seen and I came to know the meaning of the word, but now I had forgotten the word, and that is how my memory is so short-lived, poor memory I have of WORDS, but not pictures or scenes…

The dead people van came in first, parked in front of the church, and the bus came next, alighting the people on board. I was so ‘amazed’ at the sight of the dead people van. Had seen Catholic dead people van now, and just a week or so ago, during Valerie’s last day of tuition session, we saw another funeral procession — that of the Chinese — Buddhist I think — we saw them from my house’s windows.

I took photographs of the van, the coffin and the flowers beside the coffin- orchids and so on. I came home blogging about it, posting on ‘Dying to Inherit Wealth” and so on…..

However, all the posts were deleted by Richard now, and some of the posts I had saved to draft. It was ‘craziness’ which people see it.

But I know what I am doing, and I know what had happened and I know what I did, what I heard and where I went etc etc……

What really is Phobia
Types of Phobia
Causes of Mental Distress

Three men are standing around a vat of vinegar. Each one has dipped his finger into the vinegar and has tasted it. The expression on each man’s face shows his individual reaction. Since the painting is allegorical, we are to understand that these are no ordinary vinegar tasters, but are instead representatives of the “Three Teachings” of China, and that the vinegar they are sampling represents the Essence of Life. The three masters are Confucius, Buddha, and Lao Zi, author of the oldest existing book of Taoism. The first has a sour look on his face, the second wears a bitter expression, but the third man is smiling.

To Confucius, life seemed rather sour. He believed that the present was out step with the past, and that the government of man on earth was out of harmony with the Way of Heaven, the government of, the universe. Therefore, he emphasized reverence for the Ancestors, as well as for the ancient rituals and ceremonies in which the emperor, as the Son of Heaven, acted as intermediary between limitless heaven and limited earth. Under Confucianism, the use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, and phrases all added up to an extremely complex system of rituals, each used for a particular purpose at a particular time. A saying was recorded about Confucius, “If the mat was not straight, the Master would not sit.” This ought to give an indication of the extent to which things were carried out under Confucianism.

To Buddha, the second figure in the painting, life on earth was bitter, filled with attachments and desires that led to suffering. The world was seen as a setter of traps, a generator of illusions, a revolving wheel of pain for all creatures. In order to find peace, the Buddhist considered it necessary to transcend “the world of dust” and reach Nirvana, literally a state of “no wind.” Although the essentially optimistic attitude of the Chinese altered Buddhism considerably after it was brought in from its native India, the devout Buddhist often saw the way to Nirvana interrupted all the same by the bitter wind of everyday existence.

To Lao Zi, the harmony that naturally existed between heaven and earth from the very beginning could be found by anyone at any time, but not by following the rules of the Confucianists. As he stated in his Tao Te Ching, the “Tao Virtue Book,” earth was in essence a reflection of heaven, run by the same laws – not by the laws of men. These laws affected not only the spinning of distant planets, but the activities of the birds in the forest and the fish in the sea. According to Lao Zi, the more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance. The more forcing, the more trouble. Whether heavy or light, wet or dry, fast or slow, everything had its own nature already within it, which could not be violated without causing difficulties. When abstract and arbitrary rules were imposed from the outside, struggle was inevitable. Only then did life become sour.

To Lao Zi, the world was not a setter of traps but a teacher of valuable lessons. Its lessons needed to be learned, just as its laws needed to be followed; then all would go well. Rather than turn away from “the world of dust,” Lao Zi advised others to “join the dust of the world”. What he saw operating behind everything in heaven and earth he called Tao (Dao), “the Way”.

A basic principle of Lao Zi’s teaching was that this Way of the Universe could not be adequately described in words, and that it would be insulting both to its unlimited power and to the intelligent human mind to attempt to do so. Still, its nature could be understood, and those who cared the most about it, and the life from which it was inseparable, understood it best.

Over the centuries Lao Zi’s classic teachings were developed and divided into philosophical, monastic, and folk religious forms. All of these could be included under the general heading of Taoism. But the basic Taoism that we are concerned with here is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness. You might say that happy serenity is the most noticeable characteristic of the Taoist personality, and a subtle sense of humor is apparent even in the most profound Taoist writings, such as the twenty-five-hundred-year-old Tao Te Ching. In the writings of Taoism’s second major writer, Zhuang Zi, quiet laughter seems to bubble up like water from a fountain.

In the painting, why is Lao Zi smiling? After all, that vinegar that represents life must certainly have an unpleasant taste, as the expressions on the faces of the other two men indicate. But, through working in harmony with life’s circumstances, Taoist understanding changes what others may perceive as negative into something positive. From the Taoist point of view, sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet. That is the message of The Vinegar Tasters.

路见不平拔刀相助 (Helping One Another)
I hate to say this, I hate to take this type of photographs ( I took this ‘better’ ones than the rest), it is no standard, and ugly, dirty, but I kept it until now and add some more(just taken two hours ago)

This is what you see in the lift, my lift at my block of flat, serving my block of residents. This photograph that you see is taken from Lift A, because Lift B is down now. I do not know if the people had been rescued.

Just below the certificate above is this notice, full of scratches, so dirty, and put high up (children cannot even read the notice, anyone shorter cannot even read anything on it)

See the sign, So what if got the sign? People followed the sign? People obey the sign?

When Real, When Play, When To Act
I heard the alarm bell, rang so many times. I did not know if it was a prank, like some children playing or what. But normally if playing, it will stop, but this time it was quite long. However, it stopped after sometime. So I was not sure if it was still a hoax or a real person trapped in it.

Singapore Man: NS(National Service) Singapore Man!!! What A Disgrace!
Ask Richard go and check it out. In the end, he did not even dare to call up. I called the number instead. The operator told me the rescue team was sent.

Contradiction: Who is in the Right Mind?
Sigh… crazy notice “With Effect from April 2005, it is no longer a requirement to display a certificate of Maintenance in the lift car. Our Town Council will continue to ensure that the lift is properly maintained. Urinating in the lift is an offence under the Environmental Public Health Act ”

“In Case of Breakdown, do not force open door, press alarm and wait for rescue.”

Evironmental Public Health?? Come and SEE for yourself!
What a contradiction! Hello, Sembawang Town Council, LIFE in the LIFT! Who can guarantee that the lift is perfectly fine? Who on earth is in charge? Always called up whatever number (whoever know can already), always treated like a ping pong ball, pass to here and there or say they are not in charge of this and that. Tired of calling up already! All the same, and now, this lift problem, I called up once about the button and I know the button was not replaced AT ALL. They know that if people don’t call them up then it is no problem already. That is the kind on attitude they have.

Check Me Up, Singapore is so small
I knew the faces of my neighbours in my neighbourhood. Though I do not know them well, but at least I can tell. Just because some people are the ‘keep quiet’ and even worst, the ‘not so educated’ type, they placed the ‘not working’ button there and no one complain. If they put at my floor, I am sure going to call them up non-stop to complain! We are paying money every month okay! But look at this! Pay money to get trap in the lift??? This is not the first time the lift is not working well. I called up a few times already! My neighbour also called up! Ridiculous, what sort of management they have? It is so dangerous, especially if children were trapped in the lift!

Is Fine and Punishment the Only way Out?
That is why I said education is very important. You cannot just keep threatening people with fines, with money and with punishment. What about people who don’t even know how to read? The words got no meaning to them at all! Worst is, people who know how to read and who know everything, but still never do anything or in no position to do anything.

Lift Me Up
This lifts, Lift A and Lift B, I need to take everyday. Would I lie, would I add any oil to fire? This is the truth, nothing but the truth. I live in Woodlands for how many years? I knew this person from Sembawang Town Council for how many years? I saw him walk here walk there…. easy money, metal rice bowl it seems, but the lower ends people suffer!!! The higher ends people Kiao Kah (shake legs and smoking all the way) — I got evidence, I see and I write, not anyhow say!!

When All Is an Empty Shell
How nice the facade of the school, how nice the painting, how nice the logo, the vision, the school values and everything painted on. But what is IN THE SCHOOL? I Vomit Blood, my blood pressure on the rise, I had to squeeze my stress ball!!!!!

When talking is nicer than singing 说 的比唱 的好听
Racial harmony, what about within the same race even! Are there harmony among people in the first place? At Ikea, people snatching up seats, vying for seats. Men are not at all acting gentlemanly. It is ugliness of Singaporean I see, terrible plight of Singaporean.

On 2nd May 2008, an Indian boy was scolded badly, ‘mistreated’ by this school bus driver. I walked past and I saw it. Leaving the boy behind, he went to the bus, ’slam’ the bus door. I did not know what exactly happened, but that is not the right way to treat children, or even any customers. Parents out there, do you want to pay somebody who ill-treat your children? Can you have peace of mind when you are at work?

Grief: Ignorance Is Risk
Saw a myna and a peaceful dove at QiHua Primary School on Wednesday. Then yesterday, Thursday, one of the ‘teacher’ from QiHua Primary School called…. I had tolerated, tolerated since Labour Day, the day I went out to venture. I thought I can have some fun, enjoy myself, but who knows, my children and I wanted to QUICKLY GET OUT OF IKEA (TAMPINES), it was terrible, terrible experience……

Developing People: Excellence, Service, Integrity?????
This used to be a nice banner hang outside QiHua Primary School, at the fence. However, it is now being vandalized, torn apart…. Do you called this People Developer? What a nice name, ‘Developing Our Staff To Their Fullest Potential….” Yes, indeed, developing them to the “ULTIMATE” potential even!

Just take a closer look at this, and you can see how people are being “DEVELOPED” in Singapore. HOW pathetic it is!

Products of Singapore
I was at Ikea on 1st May 2008, and I tell you, I had the WORST EXPERIENCE of my life on that day. How Kiasu, How ugly Singaporean can be, both MEN AND WOMEN. And the worst is MEN are not acting as real MAN. But I tell you, it is all ironies, real ironies of life……..

Do We Have any Human Rights AT ALL
People Developer, Developing people, developing nation, what a joke! It is crazy. This is the kind of EDUCATION received and I see in WOODLANDS.

I Cannot Stop The Music
I cannot finish writing, I cannot finish the flow, it is ‘River of Babylon’! The water is flowing profusely non-stop, the music starts, the birds singing, the work began, the world is crazy, upside-down.

I am Mad Because I LIKE MATHS
But I like it, I LIKE IT. My clock is rewinding, I am watching and I am laughing. But I am moving on, moving on, walking not alone, with birds I see, flowers I see, SCHOOL BUSES I see and SCHOOL CHILDREN I LEARN, my motivation, my encouragement of life.

Wear Pyjamas learn swimming, who ever did that? Draw snake add legs, 画蛇添足

Too creative, very imaginative…….

An Upside down world, toppling down, everything, who are blind????? Whose eyes got stamps — mak jiu da stamp?? (teochew: mak jiu = eyes, da=affixed)

Who is the last one to be my witness? Who is the one I asked this question, and who is the one who answer my question? It is all the reverse now, REVERSE, REVERSE!!!!!!

The Integration Symbol, Sigmoid Curve, A Maths
Cycling on the pathway, seen beautiful Betel Nut Palm with fruits. Watched sports channel here, while eating Chicken rice. Saw Spain league, WoW, I like it. Saw a black butterfly with yellow dot this time on the MacArthur Palm tree. The myna flying and playing.

Chinese ‘Idol’ which people worship as God I see. Catholic breaking the ‘rules’, broken world time to heal.

My journey of Life, questions of the heart has finally paid off, my questions answered; Questions Are The Answers!!!!

HOPE I FOUND, Journey Looked Forward
I want to thank World Bible School, the so far truth I have learned, and I looked forward to complete the course, as I am only half pail water, a lot to learn about God. So much things to learn.

Save The World, Save Ourselves
Mother’s Day Best Gift, my wish, my dream, I look forward. Jesus, my leader, Jesus I follow, he carried, with me on his shoulder, I walk and see birds.

My Pride
This Great Life I experienced, living with Hope, living with Mission, living with Purpose to fulfill. My first step, my belief, has paid off. I am feeling Happy, HAPPINESS!

Just as men have different penis size and the different shades of colour their male sex organs might have, women also have different vulva size and also differences in appearance to their private parts, labia minora — as shown in the picture below:

This picture is taken from this website, lvratlanta.com, showing the before and after of Labia Minora Reduction Contouring Surgery. Most women feel ‘loose’ after the process of childbirth, especially so after several childbirth. This is because our muscles act like that of the elastic rubber bands that we have in this world. The more times you stretch the rubber bands, the larger it slowly gets and the less elastic it soon becomes and eventually, it looses its elasticity and might even snaps or break anytime.

However, I have only two kids. I have no experience of having my vagina loses its ‘elasticity’ and I do not need any vaginal cosmetic surgery. But for women who believe they need to do something to enhance their love life, they can always follow their heart, seek professional advice and decide for themselves, if they should need any vaginal tightening surgery. As for me, any surgery is additional costs and having surgery is no fun. It is pain, but beauty you want to gain. For me, as long as vagina health is fine, beauty is not merely lying in the appearance. So afterall, the decision is all lying within you and your means.

[男]誰共誰一起
　　緣份冥冥之中連於一起
　　無論在那處都可跟你
　　在頃刻之間縮窄距離

[女]海角異地
　　猶幸兩顆心纏於一起
　　遺忘掉世界都也不理
　　地老與天荒總有傳奇

(click here for the rest of the lyrics)

Don’t Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
when he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worse,
that you must not quit.

Winners Never Quit. I want to cry, I feel like crying. How much tears have I shed. How much sweat and how much water have I lost and have I drank.

The Future

Ignorance Is Risk

Life seems to be predestined the moment you are born. You may be crying, you may have illness, you may have this and that, but you do not know what it is, what you want, until one day, you ask for it, you want it and you find it. Complicated, not an easy explanation, but I experienced it all, and I am filled with touched. I am filled with tears, but not sadness, but real TOUCH, real gladness and REAL PRIDE, pride not of myself, but pride in being seeing my love ones still around, my love ones still healthy and my love ones all happily working, with their happy lives and studies, working and so on. My pride is I am the daughter of God, and my pride is I am a Catholic. I am a Roman Catholic. And my pride is not having the university degree, nor having all the possessions I have now. My greatest pride is I am walking around with the cross on my bosom or chest, the place right where my necklace hang the cross with Jesus crucified on it. Today I am wearing it, even right now. It is the same old cross, which I put down some many years back, but somehow, today, even now, both Richard and I are wearing it back, and today, I had the greatest answer of LIFE, the greatest ever and the greatest ever answer I have and ever experienced. I am deeply touched, and I have fear yet again, fear of the upcoming mission, fear of the rest of the road lying upfront of me. It is fight after fight, never ending.

Magic Words We Make, We Speak, But It Is God That Provides,
God Gives and God Knows
Friends Make Magic, But With God, There is Wonder
Only God can Make Wonder

This is the song on my handphone, my morning ringtone, alarm to wake me up, and this is the ring tone which I have set and this is the ring tone which give me answers as well. How nice everything works, how nice everything is planned. Everything is planned well and miraculously. Awesome, and unbelievable. I rewound my clock, I looked back at my posts and it is unbelievable. Sometimes I even forget what I had written. But they are my true words and I am glad I never cheated on anybody, and not even myself.

The sisters who had doted on me, the sisters who had always helped me.

Final Destiny is not for me to decide, but there is really God, God will decide, but we have to co-operate with God. If you listen to God, God will help. God knows, God really knows and he really knows — it is not a matter of how you pray even. It is your heart that counts, in addition to the Laws of course. I will tell you more, I have so much to share, so much things to be revealed. Incredible, miraculous and awesome. Faith says that tomorrow is a new day…. and Today is the beginning of it. Positive living by Faith. There is no secret to a great life at all. The only one who can give you a great life is within yourself. The first step to a great life is no secret at all, but belief in yourself, belief in God and belief you can achieve what you want. With God, anything is possible, God the Father who loves us, just like you would love your own children.

I experienced God’s grace, mercy and love. I encountered God, the almighty and powerful God, I have fear, fear of God, I am scared, but I have new life. A new life, a great experience I had, a great life experience I ever had.

Someone wrote this to me:

i just surfed by your page by doing a net search for window blinds. its amazing where cyberspace can take you. anyhow, you truly are a very deep and creative person. glad to have crossed paths with you. take care.

Your Feedback Is Important To Me
Thank You for your precious time to leave an email to me. I received many spams everyday. Sometimes, I do not even know which mail is real, which mail is not real. I even received email from myself! Too immune and too numb by now to do anything already.

Faith = My Strength
I have people who rated my site as NEGATIVE, very bad, WORST. Fine, I take it. I continue and I believe in myself. I do not need lots of people. All I need is one single soul. And I believe I can if I think I can. And that He Believed and he said,”He Believes” and still he said He Believed. Believe in what? He said he “Believes In God”. He believes the existence of God.

The Light That Shines In Our Home
Clara said,”He might be fake fake one.” She said she believes, then I asked her,”You got fake fake one a not?” Then Ricsson said,”I believe! God, Yahweh!”

The Human wearing white sheep fur, got stabbed.

Singaporean Joke: The Marriage of Two Lost Sheep
Yesterday, while eating lunch, Richard and I had great laughs of dirty joke, and hilarious joke of ourselves.

Joke of The Lost Sheeps — White Sheep and Black Sheep
Richard said I got to thank him. I said,”Yes, Indeed. All because of you. Otherwise how can I see the Light today?” I was saying he was a lost sheep all the while. And this particular day, he said I was the Lost Sheep on the mountain — 迷途高羊, that is the exact words he said. What is the meaning of the words, I don’t know — I just know the words 迷途= lost way, 羊= sheep. 高羊=? Which gao(Hanyupinyin)? 高 or 稿, both are gao. So funny, if 迷途高羊 means the lost and clever sheep, if 迷途稿羊= lost and anyhow ‘mix around’ sheep. What a hilarious joke. I think he is the latter case. Both of us are lost sheep, I am the white sheep and he is the black sheep. How funny. We laugh until cannot laugh.

Joke from the white sheep and the black sheep
Then he was telling me again about this word 哗然之间=suddenly, I never studied this before, never come across this words before. Then he said 哗然之间, 我想睡懒觉.

哗然之间, 我想睡懒觉 = 哗然 (wa lan) 之间 (zhi jian) , 我想 (wo xiang) 睡 (shui) 懒觉 (lan jiao)

In Dialect, Hokkien/Teochew, Penis = Lan or Lan Jiao (dialect bad words, vulgar)

哗然之间, 我想睡懒觉 = 哗然 (wa lan = oh my ‘lan’) 之间 (zhi jian) , 我想 (wo xiang = I want) 睡 (shui= sleep) 懒觉 (lan jiao = Penis)

Then I said if got such words, then you don’t make me Du Lan 肚烂 = Angry. Then he said I Kam Lan = Stupid. He said,”我只用成语讲话.” Then I said,”You Cum Lan Lar.” (Cum Lan = suck cock)

Words from the Grey Sheep
This is crazy. How words can mislead people, can corrupt people and can influence people. Words, funny or not, depends on what you think and words, meaningful or not, depend on what you know.

Power of Words
Words are so powerful. Words differentiate between us from our surrounding flora and fauna. — The animals and the plants. Such simple logic, and you will be surprised not many people know. Take a look at my household members. Even the oldest sheep does not know. The oldest sheep, the so-called leader of the pack, the elderly sheep that rule the home, said HE is no different from the animals. I laugh my ass out. He is no different from the beast! I asked Clara, and she told me all about the differences between the appearance and shapes of animals and human beings. I asked Ricsson, again, he had the close answer as mine. At second attempt, he said, “Animals cannot talk.”

Plant your head with Good Words
Good words will grow into wisdom on your head. The Bible is a book of God’s Words, the words to achieve Great Life. God is my belief. God’s Words are precious and valuable.

Courage is standing up for what you believe in without worrying about the opinions of others.
It’s following your own heart, living your own life,
and settling for nothing less than the best for yourself.

Courage is daring to take a first step, a big leap, or a different path.
It’s attempting to do something that no one has done before, and all others thought impossible.

Courage is keeping heart in the face of disappointment,
and looking at defeat not as an end but as a new beginning.
It’s believing that things will ultimately get better even as they get worse.

Courage is being responsible for your own actions, and admitting your own mistakes without placing blame on others.
It’s relying not on others for your success,
but on your own skills and efforts.

Courage is refusing to quit even when you’re intimidated by impossibility.
It’s choosing a goal, sticking with it, and finding solutions to the problems.

Courage is thinking big, aiming high, and shooting far.
It’s taking a dream and doing anything, risking everything, and stopping at nothing to make it a reality.

~ Caroline Kent

The Happy Warrior

What a man thinks and does when things are not at their worst makes or breaks him. Crushed hopes, broken trust and bitter disappointment precipitate a crisis for every soul; and it is this behaviour then that determine his failure or success. The coward in time of crisis thinks with his legs; but the brave keeps on fighting though he is scared half to death.

Only the valiant can make the most of life. Fear of failure is the father of failure. The main battlefield is in the heart and the chief foe is Fear.

I find no foeman in the road but Fear; To doubt is failure and to dare success. ~ Frederic Lawrence Knowles

More Poems

If need be, start over again and again –
success becomes closer each time.

If need be, accept whatever you have to –
it may not be easy to do,
but it makes everything easier.

If need be, stop running –
so that happiness can find you.

If need be, admit that you need help –
this is helping yourself.

If need be, ignore fear –
for without fear,
anything is possible.

If need be, make a change –
it could change your life.

If need be, surrender –
without struggle, there is peace.

If need be, compromise –
but keep your principles.

If need be, continue
what seems to be impossible –
it only is impossible if you quit.

If need be, stop –
and a new life will start.

If need be, try something different –
you will be wiser.

If need be, wait –
amazing things happen everyday.

If need be, live with uncertainty —
certainty is in trusting yourself.

If need be, have faith —
and faithfully you’ll be given strength.

If need be, go forward —
your dreams are waiting patiently for you.

~ Nancye Sims

Medieval Knight Picture : Medieval Knight

Men have lacked wisdom in many great issues because they lacked the courage to be wise. Through cowardice, they chose the way of stupidity, because it was the way of least resistance. Emerson said,”Half a man’s wisdom goes with his courage.”

Control your fears, for fear is more hurtful than the thing you fear. The world rewards the best only to men and women of courage.

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. ~ German Adage

More Poems

What we see is one teacher many students, One mother with a few kids, one boss with a few employees, but there are good students and poor students. There are good children and bad children. There are good employees and bad employees. The good child that walks out of the house may not be a good student, but if he works hard, and he is willing, he would be a good student and ultimately a good employee if he continues to walk in the right path. Having a yardstick in his heart, he should be able to measure what he sees and hear and he should act according to his own judgment.

Regardless of how the mother teaches you and how your teacher said to you, if your heart is not around, there is no way anybody can help you. The kid refuses to open their eyes and hears. They prefer to rest and lead an easy life of comfort. This is the normal human nature, idling and lazing around. But they are habits that will lead the child to destruction ultimately. Many parents do not know what to do. Many parents gave up ‘teaching’ their kids.

When you think that handling baby is not easy and thought that your life would be easier when your kids grow up, then you might be wrong away. For every stage of the kids’ life, there are always challenges ahead. Learning something good is often so hard, and yet learning the bad is not learning at all. The kids just follows what is bad naturally. How to teach a kid well in this case? Gambling is bad. You cannot be bookie, but your father can be bookie. You cannot speak Singlish but your Father speaks Singlish. Children, what are you thinking?

Since my father can do, why can’t I? Since I do not get the results I want, I don’t try, I don’t do anything. TV shows people playing Mahjong. I want to play Mahjong. Maths and Science are boring. Arts is a waste of time when you have computer software to help you colour and paint without creating a mess and hassle of washing up. Don’t tell me what to do. I know what to do. You are not always right, but I know what I want. I don’t want to be like you.

Children’s mind like adults’ minds are hard to read. Even psychologist can never be 100% right. But we have brains and we have a pumping heart. With our body and brain, we can develop strategies and ways to win our enemies. Afterall, Life is just another Art. My Life, My Art The creation of God is an art. The making of a movie is an art. Art is all around us. When our love is not reciprocated, they seem to turn into enemies instead. How many parents and children severe their ties and kinship. How many children did not care about their elderly parents once they make their way out of life?

The Cat married the Dog.

One day, all it takes is one day, for me to be broken and shattered. It takes days and months and even years for me to recover, leaving scars, which may or may not be healed. No plastic surgery could be done. One Satan is not enough in the house. What if there is a Satanic Kid in the house? Married the Devil and give birth to the devil’s kid. Will there be Peace when there is no peace? Yes, I had learned. I will continue to fight with you. You can never win with war. War will always create war. But not with poison. Learn from nature, Durian, the successful Fruit which so many people are crazy over. It is deadly but not so deadly if you know it well. 以毒攻毒(Yi Du Gong Du) Fighting Poison with Poison. I am going to win the Devil and the little Devil.

I am Broken This Day
Sin and Broken-Self. That is what Lent is all about this season. I am indeed a Broken-Self. I have too much sins. My dreams even saw that purple colour, priest clothes which Father Terrence wore. How coincident, to have seen Father Terence at the church and wearing the colour purple for the mass, a season to mourn and grief.

Laugh At Myself or Slap Thyself?
This is a great joke of life. I have failed. I am a failure. Can you imagine that? The greatest failure and the greatest joke I had ever made. Should I continue with my belief or should I give up since the route is so tough and it is not easy. People see me with ridicule, people ignored me, people think I am proud or arrogant? I am suffering inside. My heart is deeply cut and broken. It is all my fault, is it not? My fate, my destiny, lies in my hands. Is it not that I had brought all these upon myself today? Had I known God better, had I chosen to seek him first, perhaps I might have a different life today.

Akon-Sorry,Put The Blame On Me

Good become Bad, Bad Become Worse and Worst Become Satan’s Meal
My heart is bleeding. My eyes shed tears, but that is only what you can see. You don’t know my real heart. I tell you and you might not understand, and you might not believe. Don’t need. Don’t need to know and believe. Seeing is believing. Look at my life and you can see. Look at my state and you can know. Blame no one. Sorry, Put The Blame On Me. I had chosen it so. I feel bad, very bad that if I cannot be a good person, how can I be a good parent?

Inaction does not mean NO ACTION
The foundation was laid well. The pillar is slanted. The roof might fall anytime. My hands, the strength of a person, and I am a woman; can it be so great as to hold on to the roof and support the roof everytime? I need rest and I need help too. Who can I trust? All are just humans with imperfections. So I choose to trust God, someone whom I had always wonder who is He and how He looks like and how everybody can seem to know him, and pray to God, someone whom you have no idea at all.

I will Come Back With an answer…
Shall I hold on and stay on to my belief? Am I wrong?

Give Me Some Time…
Too many tests. I had too many. I failed. I need time to think and time to heal. Let me think about it.

Expect No More
Today I am Broken Physically and Mentally. My heart is broken. I shall not blame anyone, but myself. Thousands of words will not heal. Only thousands and millions of work will heal.

Christmas Advent Hearts
These are Advent Hearts. They are just papers that are being cut into heart shapes and they depict our own hearts, lying in our chests. During this Christmas, what is your Christmas wishes? We wrote down our Christmas wishes for our loved ones on the Advent Hearts which would be presented to God at the altar on Christmas Day.

Meaningful Christmas
This Christmas is going to be a very meaningful Christmas for me, as my heart was moved by God’s Power. My heart was opened. My eyes see and my ears hear. Able to see and hear does not mean you understand and you know. But with God’s guidance, I am a better person today, at least better than last Christmas. My’spiritual growth’ was enriched. This ’spiritual growth’ is called ‘Faith’.

Believe More = Trust = Faith
Faith is a supernatural gift from God which enables us to accept Jesus as God and Saviour. It gives the human spirit the power to rise to God. It gives the soul, as it were, spiritual muscles and the energy for them to act. But like the muscles of the body, they must be developed and strenghtened by use. Those who have not faith should ask God to give it to them. Those in whom it is weak should pray “Help my unbelief.” Those who rejoice in this gift should develop it by daily acts of faith.

Great Heart, Prince of Peace = Sacred Heart
Jesus was a normal boy, who was not born in rich family. He experienced hunger and thirst, happiness and sadness, tiredness and vigour, just like anyone of us. He loved his mother and he obeyed his mother Mary and his father Joseph too. Jesus was a Great Teacher and he had told people about God and he had performed many miracles in his time. Jesus was a noble person, filled with kindness and love. He was the Son of God and our Saviour.

Fuel For Your Heart = Power From God
In life, there are no bed of roses. There are so many ups and downs, and during our down time, we are easily tempted to Give Up on what we are doing, and to Start New. This is because giving up and starting something new is always the easiest. Whether in relationship or in your career, it is so easy to quit and start new. However, it is not easy to maintain your relationship and to stick on to your job and do well in your job.

Human Force Not Eternal, Not Permanent
No man is perfect and we are all pots calling the kettles black. Who is your real friend in life? It is hard to know and hard to trust, but there is someone who never fail you. Do you hate your kids just because you punish them or scold them? Do you love your kids even when they do something wrong? When you produce your own work, do you not treasure it? Such is my experience of God. With God as the pillar of your support and strength, you may walk the journey of life with peace.

Everywhere is beauty, depending on how you look at it.

It’s All Excuses
Everywhere is beauty if you know how to appreciate it. The older the tree, the nicer the tree. This picture is taken with my handphone and the result was not as good as when you see it real. A tree, but it allows more flora and even fauna to live on it. Everybody depend on one another and the tree flourishes. It is just so nice, I do not know how to describe it. Even the bark of the trees have mosses and lichens growing on it. Young trees would not have so much growth. Just like painting, the more things you have on the paper, the nicer is the picture.

Singapore ShopHouses


The heart follows you, you follow the heart
These are pictures of Singapore Shophouses and these are great architectural work which I like. They are pottery products on shophouses which I wanted to buy many many years back, but they are too costly. Pictures are cheaper way of ‘possessing’ them. I want to thank God, for making this trip a beautiful ones. Your heart determines if you like the place a not. Your heart will determine if you are satisfied with the place. That day, I was delighted to see ‘another different world’ though it was never a foreign land to me.

The heart is more than just an organ in your body
I had learned to appreciate what I see with my hearts. When you learn to appreciate things, you will be filled with gladness and touched. You would even love what you see and you would rejoice! This is all the truths, experiences from my own life and words expressed through my own heart. Beautiful and flattering words to convince you I do not know, but my strength and my daily motivation, to keep me moving from everyday life and my ability to continue blogging day in and day out, LIES in my HEART. My heart carries me and my heart is the place where I connect with the unseen. You cannot see my heart, neither can I see HIM, but the WIND is what convinces you.

Your Heart Is your connection with God
If you have felt demotivated, if you need strength, SEEK the help of God. (God Knows Your Past and can give you Future) Pray and your answer will be heard. Your heart is your source of motivation and the many magical miracles which you can make it happens if only you put your heart at work.

Christmas Greetings
I wish Everybody Merry Christmas, Hearty Christmas, with your hearts open and able to fill with love and appreciate the beauty of your loved ones and your home. I dedicate the song “Shout” to you, which symbolize me shouting to you the ‘miracle’ of God’s Power, which I had shared with you at my various blogs. As it is so magical, many people would love to Pass It On.

I had been asking myself, subconsciously, am I leading the correct life? Today, someone asked me, “Hey, both you and your husband not working, how you sustain living?” I shall deal with this in another blog, another post.

My Views of Great Life

The Power Of Belief – Anthony Robbins

1. Beliefs
What is your beliefs in life? This is actually your goals of life, purpose of living and your life motto.

Before you sell insurance, you have to believe that life insurance is good. Life insurance helps families. Knowing the importance of insurance, you will appreciate what you sell. You believe that your job is a noble one. Even though you had lots of rejections, but ultimately you will help many innocent victims, the family of the deceased in future.

That is belief related to your work. You may be working as real estate agent. It works the same way. Why do you want to work real estate? Is it for money, as people said you can earn lots of commission by selling a billion dollars property? Or do you work in real estate because of other reasons? I believe that people do things for their own reasons. People do not need to tell you their reasons but to those people who aspire to succeed for their dreams, they always have a reason.

What is your belief if your job is a teacher? You ought to know what is your job and you must be able to believe that you are able to inculcate your values and knowledge to your students. To the school teacher, you believe that what you say and what you do will affect and influence the children. You gain self-satisfaction when you see your children’s progress. If you love your job, you will believe that hardwork, patience and love will ultimately change the weaker students. You would want be happy to see your children succeed in future.

When you have beliefs in your life, it is anaglous to holding a microphone in front of the audience, regardless of where you are, what work you do. Holding the microphone will always remind you that what you say, what you do is all for your beliefs. Your beliefs would ultimately be subscious, you do not need to think about your beliefs, memorize it or rehearse it. Holding the microphone, whatever things you say and do is all for the GOOD of people around you. For example, selling insurance, teaching your students, helping your friends/prospects to find their perfect homes, and so on.

At work, you hold on to your working microphone. At home, what microphone do you use? At social gathering or function, do you use another microphone? At the market, at the shopping centre, at the factory, at the ballroom, regardless of where you are, what kind of microphone are you using? You saw singers singing with their microphones, there are different styles of holding the microphone, there are microphones which are loud enough for audience to listen clearly. There are lousy microphones which people at the back cannot hear the singers clearly.

If you belief what you are doing is correct, and it is true, holding your microphone (your beliefs), you will be able to support your own viewpoints, your backup for your own action, when you face with objections and obstacles. If you are very sure of your belief, you will be able to face objections. This is because you know very well what you are doing. You have all the reasons to support your action.

Not all our beliefs are correct. Not all our beliefs are good. Sometimes, we need friends or even strangers to enlighten us. When we found that our beliefs are wrong, then it should be corrected and discontinued immediately. For example, the belief that drug taking is a good way to solve problems, the belief that you are always right (and you always want people to do what you want or according to what you think!).

I have not studied philosophy, I have not studied psychology, but according to what I had learned and experience in my life, this is my believe of beliefs. This is what I believe about beliefs and that beliefs is the first thing which leads to what you choose to do in lives (making decision), and ultimately lead to other aspects of life.

My Views of Great Life Will be Continued in the next post.

Here is a poem about Heart by Wordsworth. Wordsworth, the young democrat and supporter of the French Revolution, finds nothing as inspiring and liberating in the life of his own country.

The World Is Too Much with Us
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus coming from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

More Inspirational Poems

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

7 SECRETS To a Great Life
By Kathy Gates

A great life doesn’t happen by accident. A great life is the result of allocating your time, energy, thoughts, and hard work towards what you want your life to be. Stop setting yourself up for stress and failure, and start setting up your life to support success and ease. A great life is the result of using the 24/7 you get in a creative and thoughtful way, instead of just what comes next. Customize these “secrets” to fit your own needs and style, and start creating your own great life today!

1. S – Simplify. A great life is the result of simplifying your life. People often misinterpret what simplify means. It’s not a way to remove work from your life. When you focus on simplifying your life, you free up energy and time for the work that you enjoy and the purpose for which you are here. In order to create a great life, you will have to make room for it in yours first.

2. E – Effort. A great life is the result of your best effort. Creating a great life requires that you make some adjustments. It may mean re-evaluating how you spend your time, or choosing to spend your money in a different way. It may mean looking for new ways to spend your energy that coincide with your particular definition of a great life. Life will reward your best effort.

3. C – Create Priorities. A great life is the result of creating priorities. It’s easy to spend your days just responding to the next thing that gets your attention, instead of intentionally using the time, energy and money you have in a way that’s important to you. Focus on removing the obstacles that get in the way of you making sure you are honoring your priorities.

4. R – Reserves. A great life is the result of having reserves – reserves of things, time, space, energy, money. With reserves, you acquire far more than you need – not 6 months living expenses, but 5 years worth; not 15 minutes of free time, 1 day. Reserves are important because they reduce the fear of consequences, and that allows you to make decisions based on what you really want instead of what the fear decides for you.

5. E – Eliminate distractions. A great life is the result of eliminating distractions. Up to 75% of your mental energy can be tied up in things that are draining and distracting you. Eliminating distractions can be a difficult concept to many people, since they haven’t really considered that there is another way to live. Look around at someone’s life you admire. What do they do that you would like to incorporate into your own life? Ask them how they did it. Find ways to free up your mental energy for things that are more important to you.

6. T – Thoughts. A great life is the result of controlling your thoughts so that you accept and allow for the possibility that it actually can happen to you! Your belief in the outcome will directly dictate how successful you are. Motivated people have specific goals and look for ways to achieve them. Believing there is a solution to the same old problems you encounter year after year is vitally important to creating a life that you love. Whatever you think and believe, you create. Listen to what you’re telling yourself, and adjust that voice if you need to.

7. S – Start! A great life is the result of starting. There’s the old saying everyone’s familiar with “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” In order to even move from the couch to the refrigerator, you have to start. There’s no better time to start than today. Don’t wait for a raise, or until the kids get older, or the weather is better. Today, right now, is the right day to start to take a step in the direction of your heart’s desires. It’s what you do TODAY that will make a difference in your life tomorrow.

Kathy Gates is a Personal Life Coach who believes that “Life Rewards Action”. Visit www.reallifecoach.com for more information, or email Kathy@reallifecoach.com, or 480.998.5843.

Quotes About Life

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

More Quotes About Life
Living Life with Meaning
Best Life Quotes

The subjects on which the Master did not speak were extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings.

Knowledge & Learning

Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Those who learn and readily attain knowledge are the next. Those who are dull and stupid, and yet encompass learning, are another class next to these. As to those who are dull and stupid and do not learn, they are the lowest of people.

The superior man has nine things he considers thoughtfully: to see clearly when he uses his eyes; to hear distinctly when he uses his ears; to look benign; to be respectful in his demeanor; to be sincere in his speech; to be reverent in his doing business; to ask advice when he has doubts; to think of consequences when he is angry; to think of righteousness when he sees gain to be gotten.

Contemplating good and pursuing it as if they could not reach it; contemplating evil and shrinking from it, as they would from thrusting their hands into boiling water — I have seen such men, as I have heard such words. Living in retirement to study their aims, and practicing righteousness to carry out their principles — I have heard those words, but I have not seen such men.

• I have spent the whole day without eating, and the whole night without sleeping, occupied with thinking. It was of no use. The better plan is to learn.

• Learn as if you could not reach your object, and were always afraid lest you should lose it.

• I am not one who was born in possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.

• The silent treasuring up of knowledge, learning without satiety, and instructing others without being wearied — these things belong to me.

• When a man’s knowledge is sufficient to attain but his virtue is not sufficient to enable him to hold whatever he may have gained, he will lose again.

• When his knowledge is sufficient to attain and his virtue enough to hold fast, if he cannot govern with dignity, the people will not respect him.

• When his knowledge is sufficient to attain, when he has virtue enough to hold fast, and when he governs also with dignity, yet if he try to move the people contrary to the rules of propriety, full excellence is not reached.

• Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it — this is knowledge.

• I do not open up the truth to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor help out anyone who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a square to anyone, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson.

The Master said, “Yu, have you heard the six words to which are attached six obfuscations?”

Yu replied,”I have not.”

“Sit down,” said the Master, “and I will tell them to you. There is the love of being benevolent without the love of learning: the obfuscation leads to foolishness. There is the love of knowing without the love of learning: the obfuscation here leads to lack of principle. There is the love of being sincere without the love of learning: the obfuscation here leads to an injurious disregard of consequences. There is the love of straightforwardness without the love of learning: the obfuscation here leads to rudeness. There is the love of boldness without the love of learning: the obfuscation here leads to insubordination. There is the love of firmness without the love of learning: the obfuscation here leads to recklessness.”

There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, he guards against lust. When he is strong and the physical powers are full of vigour, he guards against quarrelsomeness. When he is old and the animal powers are decayed, he guards against covetousness.

Those who stand before a man of virtue and station are liable to three errors. They may speak before being spoken to; this is called rashness. They may not speak when spoken to; this is called concealment. They may speak without looking at the countenance of their superior; this is called blindness.

There are three things of which the superior man stands in awe. He stands in awe of the ordinances of Heaven. He stands in awe of great men. He stands in awe of the words of the sages. The inferior man does not know the ordinances of Heaven and consequently does not stand in awe of them. He is disrespectful to great men. He makes sport of the words of sages.

• The object of the superior man is truth, not food. Even in farming there is sometimes famine. So with learning, compensation may be found in it. The superior man is anxious lest he should not get truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him.

• He who does not anticipate attempts to deceive him or who does not presume he will not be believed yet understands these things readily when they occur — is he not a superior man?

• He whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh are successful may be called intelligent indeed. Yes, he with whom neither soaking slander nor startling statements are successful may be called far-seeing.

• I cannot see a sage; could I see a man of real talent and virtue, that would satisfy me.

• A good man is not mine to see; could I see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me.

• The superior man cannot be known in small matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The inferior man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.

• Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.

• When the multitude dislike a man, it is necessary to examine into the case. When the multitude like a man, it is necessary to examine into the case.

• A minister is serving his prince, reverently discharges his duties and makes his pay a secondary consideration.

• The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of injuring their virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue complete.

• It is only the truly virtuous man who can love or hate others.

• If superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves on it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves on it.

• The superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions.

• The superior man wishes to be slow in his speech and earnest in his conduct.

• The way of the superior man is threefold, but I am not equal to it. Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear.

• When a man can be spoken to, not to speak to him is to waste the man. When a man cannot be spoken with, to speak to him is to waste our words. The wise err neither in regard to their man nor to their words.