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more haste, less speed
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More haste, less speed[欲速则不达]
Zi Xia, one of Confucius' disciples, was getting ready to assume his new post as magistrate of Jufu(present-day Juxian Country in Shandong Province). Before setting off for Jufu, he paid a special visit to his teacher to seek his advice on how to handle his new office. After telling him about some of the dos and the don'ts, Confucius added, "Do not make haste, and do not covet petty gains. If you make haste you will miss your goal; if you covet pety gains, you will fail in bigger and more important matters." This sentence means: In doing things, do not just purely stress on speed or go after small gains. Just to emphasize speed and not to care about the effect can, adversely, cause you to miss your goal entirely. If one only cares about short-term petty gains and fails to consider long-term interests, he will never be able to do anything great. After Zi Xia epressed his determination to follow his teacher's instruction, he bade Confucius farewell and went to assume his new office.
Later, "more haste , less speed" was passed down as a proverb, which means that over-anxiety and hastiness often bring opposite results and defeat the purpose.
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Post comment Comment (3 replies)
- Reply Sally_Fan
- I know"more haste, less speed", but in the modern times, we always persue " the quicker, the better", I hope we all can achieve this goal.
- Reply Akate
- Sally_Fan: I know"more haste, less speed", but in the modern times, we always persue " the quicker, the better", I hope we all can achieve thyes, i agree with you
- Reply karenylchen
- As we set a goal and want to reach it, we should make a good preparation, make sure everything goes well gradually, and just pay more patience.
Rome was not built in a day. Work harder and practice more. Your hardworking will be rewarded by god one day. God is equal to everyone!
Dear Akate, agree with your opinion.
