Confucious say

The Weird and Whacky Holiday Calendar says September 29th is Confucius Day.  Confucius was a scholar and statesman born in China 2500 years ago, and he was perhaps the world's first great philosopher.

Confucius was never at a loss for words and he left behind 499 wise quotes (I don't know he didn't make it an even 500) which still sound contemporary.  I had a wonderful Roman history professor once who claimed that basic human intelligence, motivation, and behavior had not evolved a bit in 2,000 years.  He was right.  Here's what Confucius say:

“If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.”

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

“Consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society.”

“Study the past if you would define the future.”

“People with virtue must speak out; People who speak are not all virtuous.”

“You cannot open a book without learning something.”

“Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.”
(Ha, I thought that was just new age speak)

“A man without a mustache is a man without a soul.”
 (Well, some things get lost in translation) 

To this day, Confucianism is a spiritual belief across Asia, even thought it lacks the trappings of organized religion, such as worship of a specific deity or an afterlife.  Confucianism is also considered a humanistic philosophy, based on its enlightened and basically decent recommendations for living in society.  The Golden Rule, and all that.

Confucius also say:

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”

And speaking of music, it was nice to going the first Symphony concert in our series yesterday afternoon, sitting in our usual fourth row seats next to Betsy and Paul.  We are right in front of the stage.  The soloist was a beautiful, 27-year old pianist named Khatia Buniatishvli from Georgia (the country, not the the state) who played Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff.   As Khatia came out for her third curtain call to a standing ovation, Betsy turned to me summed it up nicely, as she often does:  She sure has it all.