Li Zongwu's Human Weaknesses: The True Words of Thick and Black

Author: Li Zongwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Dale Carnegie, through his initial educational courses for professionals and professionals in New York, gradually discovered that while these people needed vocational training, they were more urgently in need of training in the art of human interaction in daily affairs and communication. After personally visiting dozens of successful individuals and discovering their interpersonal skills, Carnegie attempted to write a book titled "How to Win Friends and Influence People" for his teaching purposes, but unexpectedly it became a huge success and continued to grow.
The opening of "The Art of Thick Skin and Black Heart" bluntly exposes human nature: Since I learned to read and write, I have long aspired to be a hero or a great figure, seeking it in the Four Books and Five Classics, but found nothing; seeking it in the Hundred Schools of Thought and the Four Histories, I still found nothing. I believed that ancient heroes and great figures must have secret knowledge, but perhaps it was because of my dull and clumsy nature that I couldn’t find it. I searched tirelessly, forgetting sleep and food, for years. One day, I happened to think of the Three Kingdoms period and the characters in it, and suddenly I had an epiphany: "I’ve found it! I’ve found it! Ancient heroes and great figures were merely those with thick faces and black hearts."
Through long-term training and research, Carnegie also discovered that the highest paid individuals were often not the ones who knew the most about engineering. The success of a person is about 85% dependent on their ability to master human nature. However, in terms of specific methods, Carnegie was more subtle than Li Zongkui, who boldly preached the "thick skin and black heart" philosophy. His topics were all light-hearted and human-centric, such as how to make others like you, how not to hurt feelings, how to change others, how to make friends more easily, and how to gain sympathy and support.
Both masters examined the hidden and profound aspects of human nature with extraordinary wisdom, but from different perspectives. Perhaps it is precisely because of these differing perspectives that we can better understand and utilize human nature. It is also for this reason that their works are truly worthy of being called "sister books of human nature."