Tolstoy's Insights

Author: Zhang Xiuzhang
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-03-01
Features: People have always been paying attention to where their lives fall short and where improvements are needed. However, what can be improved lies only within what is under their own control—themselves. To improve oneself, the most important thing is that we must acknowledge that we are not inherently good people. But people dislike admitting their own flaws. People's attention is usually not focused on what is under their control—themselves, but rather on external conditions beyond their control. Conditions like these cannot improve a person's situation no matter how much you try to change them. It's like shaking a bottle of wine as much as you want or transferring it to another container—the quality of the wine remains unchanged. Because when you only concern yourself with things outside your control, useless, harmful, arrogant, vicious, and decadent activities begin.