Important Teachings

Something that I had missed when reading the Analects was Confucius ideas about other people. He believes that you should respect the elderly “To bring comfort to the aged, to inspire trust in my friends, and be cherished by the youth.” (Pg. 15 5.26) The first time I read I had missed this but now I realize how important it is to treat the elderly well and with the respect they have earned. Many people believe that old people don’t have anything interesting or anything that they can take from them but they are wrong. Old people have the most important teaching of all. They have the teaching of knowledge and experience. For me these are the most important teachings since experience is not something that can be learned but if you are able to include your experience with the experience of someone else you will be very rich in knowledge. He is telling us that we are the ones who will shape the future and that we want to leave a good legacy behind us. This is very important and it is very important to realize that even though you may read Confucius once you will miss a lot of things. This is also a very important teaching and something that I can apply in my life. Sometimes I don’t read things as attentively as should and by not doing so I miss very important details. Confucius is telling us that the elderly should be treated with respect and what impresses me the most is how he is able to have a vision that is predicting the future.