Did you become mediocre: The secret manual of success that successful people keep confidential

Author: Shi Lin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Lin Yutang once profoundly analyzed the Chinese lifestyle in Who Will Enjoy Life, proposing the need to "break free from overly busy lives and too great responsibilities" and adopt a "moderate and carefree" philosophy of life. He highly admired the natural and unrestrained lifestyle depicted in The Half-and-Half Song. He said: "I believe the half-skeptic is the superior skeptic. Among all the ancient and modern philosophies related to human life, none have discovered a deeper truth than this doctrine of a life that is orderly yet moderate between two extremes. This moderate spirit finds a complete balance between action and stillness. Therefore, the ideal person should be half-famous and half-obscure; lazy yet diligent, diligent yet lazy; poor yet not to the point of being unable to pay rent, nor rich enough to do no work at all or to generously support friends; skilled at playing the piano but not exceptionally talented, only good enough to play for close friends, with the greatest use being for personal enjoyment; collecting antiques but only enough to fill the mantelpieces; reading books but not studying diligently; knowledgeable yet not an expert in any field; writing articles but with only half of them accepted and half rejected by the British Times. In short, I believe this middle-class lifestyle is the sound ideal life discovered by the Chinese......