Theme: practice
2 reflections tagged with "practice"
← All themesDay 1
learningjoypractice
The Joy of Learning
This opening line of the Analects sets the key Confucian mood: learning is not only a duty, but a deep, renewing joy. The verb 習 suggests repeated practice, like a bird flapping its wings until it can fly. Confucius is less interested in cramming for an exam than in returning again and again to what is worth knowing, until it becomes part of one's character.
Day 18
habitformationpractice
The Power of Small Habits
Confucius observes that people begin life with similar basic capacities, but over time, what they repeatedly practice (習) shapes them, creating large differences. Habitual actions, guided by teaching and ritual, carve character.