Before the suffering of the poor, an educated person's gifts may become a ladder for advancement, or a hand reaching down to those no one cares for. When giving broadly to relieve the many parts ways with paving my own road, which do I choose first?
THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS
Do I use my gifts only to raise myself, forgetting they could be a hand reaching down to others?
THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL
博施濟衆
博施於民而能濟衆
📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER
To give broadly to the people and relieve the many — that goes beyond mere benevolence.
💡 TL;DR
Confucius drew giving broadly to relieve the many as the highest reach of benevolence.
📝The Classic Answers
Confucius drew giving broadly to relieve the many as the highest reach of benevolence. Learning and talent are by nature both ladder and hand. Used only as a ladder upward, they raise me; used as a hand reaching down, they touch those no one tends. Neither happens on its own — each is a choice. When I decide where to spend my gifts, I choose first to ask whether they are a ladder that lifts me or a hand that reaches another.
— ONGO · Curator
🌱Apply It Today
When choosing where to spend your ability today, imagine one place where it could become a hand that reaches someone.
📖 Classic Source:
Analects of Confucius, Yong Ye.
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.
✦
A Bridge Between Eras — the wisdoms this question threads
Reading the new through the old — classics this question awakens.
