Friday, 28 November 2008
China
I came to Beijing China in February, 2006 for a holiday.
I also went to Tokyo.
Before my holiday I told my travel companion to study Chinese and I would study Japanese.
(I picked the easier language to study :)
I got a computer program and studied Japanese. She had a book "Chinese in 10 minutes per day".
A few weeks before we went I noticed she had only read about 3 pagess. I said
"it is Chinese in 10 min a day not 10 minutes a year" She then crammed on the plane
and I swear was speaking long involved sentences with taxi drivers.
People are really encouraging so that helps. If you say "Ni hao" they are delighted
and say "your Chinese is really good".
When I arrived I instantly felt like I had returned home. I felt it even as the plane was hovering over the tarmac.
This is not what I had expected to feel in a place like China.
Amongst Westerners China has always had this "far far away' mystique. So I was surprised by my feelings.
Maybe it was because the western idea of China being so dramatically different is exaggerated.
I really had a sense of direction just always knew where to go. Maybe it is the organised road systems?
I don't believe in past lives but it was strange how I just could sense where to go.
After my holiday I went back to Australia and spent the next year planning
to return and live in Beijing.
I did lots of research and I enrolled in Chinese class. I did my TESOL certificate.
I read lots of web pages about people being stuffed around in China. I took measures to prevent the
same stuff happening to me. eg had a list of questions for potential employers.
One year later in February, 2007 I made Beijing my home.
I have been living here for about 2 years now and this is my blog.
I also went to Tokyo.
Before my holiday I told my travel companion to study Chinese and I would study Japanese.
(I picked the easier language to study :)
I got a computer program and studied Japanese. She had a book "Chinese in 10 minutes per day".
A few weeks before we went I noticed she had only read about 3 pagess. I said
"it is Chinese in 10 min a day not 10 minutes a year" She then crammed on the plane
and I swear was speaking long involved sentences with taxi drivers.
People are really encouraging so that helps. If you say "Ni hao" they are delighted
and say "your Chinese is really good".
When I arrived I instantly felt like I had returned home. I felt it even as the plane was hovering over the tarmac.
This is not what I had expected to feel in a place like China.
Amongst Westerners China has always had this "far far away' mystique. So I was surprised by my feelings.
Maybe it was because the western idea of China being so dramatically different is exaggerated.
I really had a sense of direction just always knew where to go. Maybe it is the organised road systems?
I don't believe in past lives but it was strange how I just could sense where to go.
After my holiday I went back to Australia and spent the next year planning
to return and live in Beijing.
I did lots of research and I enrolled in Chinese class. I did my TESOL certificate.
I read lots of web pages about people being stuffed around in China. I took measures to prevent the
same stuff happening to me. eg had a list of questions for potential employers.
One year later in February, 2007 I made Beijing my home.
I have been living here for about 2 years now and this is my blog.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
颐和园 The Summer Palace
Yi He Yuan The Summer Palace is where the Emperor would go in summer.
The Forbidden City (in the centre of the city) was too hot during summer in Beijing.
The Summer Palace has a huge lake Kunming Hu which you can boat on. The grounds are massive.
There is a long traditional style walkway with a roof. On the awnings there are traditional style paintings
of different scenes (a man doing caligraphy etc).
The Forbidden City (in the centre of the city) was too hot during summer in Beijing.
The Summer Palace has a huge lake Kunming Hu which you can boat on. The grounds are massive.
There is a long traditional style walkway with a roof. On the awnings there are traditional style paintings
of different scenes (a man doing caligraphy etc).
Monday, 24 November 2008
NANJING 2008 August
I like Nanjing I could live here
I felt instant peace when I arrived in Nanjing.
There is something sleepy about this town
All the cities around Shanghai are richer than the rest of China.
You can tell as the shops have more quality goods, the buildings are modern and clean and you see
less poor people. People also look more relaxed - less desperate for money.
if you came straight from the west you probably would not notice.
Nanjing was mascared by the Japanese in 1937.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
They burnt down lots of buildings and and killed thousands of Chinese.
They also tortured and raped. There are lots of books and movies about this.
There is a memorial in Nanjing -- I have not been to yet.
A Chinese American woman came to Nanjing to interview the survivors
in the 1990's. She committed suicide.
I got sick on Friday night in Shanghai
We caught the train to Nanjing. felt like death. could barely walk.
My Icelandic friends helped look after me.
So I arrived yesterday and slept for at least 18 hours
Today I went to a university campus which is beautiful.
Nanjing Normal University (where we are staying)
Then I just felt so sick so went to a taxi drive and said
"I just want to look around town and return to the hotel, about 30 yuan worth"
He took me to a temple, showed me xin jie kou (shopping district) and some big ancient wall.
I don't think Nanjing is a major tourist attraction actually
but it seems really livable.
He said it has 7 million people
it seem so small and quiet to me
I deeply love China
My travels (although not far from Beijing) has deepened my love for China and I have seen some new things that I have not seen before
I have such a strong need for knowledge and experience
I have considered spending a year in many countries in Asia. I then decided against it.
I don't want to make friends and then just leave.
I feel close to my posse in Sydney and in Beijing.
I also miss my family in Australia.
I also like the sense of community that comes from staying in a place over time.
HANGZHOU SHANGHAI 2008 August
杭州 上海 2008 年 8 月
Flew to Hangzhou in the south of China (near Shanghai)
REALLY wanted the whole economy class train experience
but had to settle for flying
SO caught a taxi to the Ling Yin temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingyin_Temple
There is beautiful natural scenery in Hangzhou. Dark green old trees with wide branches creating plenty of shade.
Everything looks fresh and green. There is an abundance of forest near the temple. It is full of life.
I went to an amazing building with white walls
and dark brown wood doors and trimmings
Chinese style latterns
with a flush of green plants outside
including lots of bamboo
Found some caves which had ancient carvings on the cave wall wall
I chatted to some Hangzhou people
Went into some magnificent temples
and saw Guiyin Sakymuni Buddha etc
Saffron robed monks walked by
people held incense
in their praying hands and bowed to the Buddha three times
The colours at the temple were yellow and red,
with roofs that curled up more than Qing (Beijing) style
with thinner corner culrs on the roof than from the Tang (Xian/Japan) style
I think I read that Hangzhou has many buildings from the Song dynasty
Hangzhou is a rich city you can tell
It is famous for it's natural environment
It is very beautiful and green but had a smoggy sky
and it is actually a city of 6 million people
traffic jams etc
but it has very expensive looking shops
The West Lake is a beautiful huge lake near the centre of town
This is the most famous tourist spot for the Chinese people.
There are lotus leaves and pagoda's near the edge of the lake.
There is a long bridge and my flatmate and I walked over it with water on each side.
We hired a boat and floated on the West Lake at night.
Anyway it was worth a look
HI FROM SHANGHAI!!!!!!
I feel SO relaxed in Shanghai
WHy?
* it is light and airy
* the light is like Australia
* breeze
* less people
* subway / buses less crowded
* less soot everywhere
people here have clean shoes unlike Beijing where you get soot all over your shoes
people are less trendy than Beijing
people here are less skinny, with darker skin (slightly)
everyone you talk to in shops is happy to have a chat for a while etc
it is more friendly than Beijing
Maybe I am just in holiday mode I don't know
It is not packed with attrctions for tourists. a few but not so many interesting things as Beijing. if you are coming on a brief trip to China go to Beijing.
I LOVE SHANGHAI
today I went to the
Lu Xun Museum who is a famous writer from about the 1920's
I bought his book Wild Grass.... I love teh way he writes it inspires me
This morning I went to the train station (by subway) and bought tickets to Nanjing and then a ticket from Nanjing to Beijing. Got a train ticket!!!!
although SOFT SLEEPER :( I really REALLY REALLY LOVE HARD sleep
like to rough it
I enjoyed taking the subway to the interprovince train station. the Europeans that I am traveling with always want to catch taxi's. I just don't think I get to see the real China in a taxi.
THis afternoon went to the LongHua Paviliion
was great but funny
close by I saw traditional Chinese buildings with a McDonalds, KFC and TESCO sign stuck on.
ummm
yeah the monastry had some old intricate locks on doors, lion door handles, yellow walks with dark red moon door
some Indian style writing
worth a look I would say ( and I have seen A LOT of Chinese tempeles in my time)
Oh one last thing about Shanghai
Shang hai is divided by a lake Huan Pu Jiang and the walk along the older side is called THe Bund which has the 1920's architecture
across the other side is the modern sky scrapers and futuristic looking buildings
I have not been there yet. but apparentlyu tehy have london store H & M
okay betta run
will get a foot massage
have a power nap
then ??? not sure yet
Flew to Hangzhou in the south of China (near Shanghai)
REALLY wanted the whole economy class train experience
but had to settle for flying
SO caught a taxi to the Ling Yin temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingyin_Temple
There is beautiful natural scenery in Hangzhou. Dark green old trees with wide branches creating plenty of shade.
Everything looks fresh and green. There is an abundance of forest near the temple. It is full of life.
I went to an amazing building with white walls
and dark brown wood doors and trimmings
Chinese style latterns
with a flush of green plants outside
including lots of bamboo
Found some caves which had ancient carvings on the cave wall wall
I chatted to some Hangzhou people
Went into some magnificent temples
and saw Guiyin Sakymuni Buddha etc
Saffron robed monks walked by
people held incense
in their praying hands and bowed to the Buddha three times
The colours at the temple were yellow and red,
with roofs that curled up more than Qing (Beijing) style
with thinner corner culrs on the roof than from the Tang (Xian/Japan) style
I think I read that Hangzhou has many buildings from the Song dynasty
Hangzhou is a rich city you can tell
It is famous for it's natural environment
It is very beautiful and green but had a smoggy sky
and it is actually a city of 6 million people
traffic jams etc
but it has very expensive looking shops
The West Lake is a beautiful huge lake near the centre of town
This is the most famous tourist spot for the Chinese people.
There are lotus leaves and pagoda's near the edge of the lake.
There is a long bridge and my flatmate and I walked over it with water on each side.
We hired a boat and floated on the West Lake at night.
Anyway it was worth a look
HI FROM SHANGHAI!!!!!!
I feel SO relaxed in Shanghai
WHy?
* it is light and airy
* the light is like Australia
* breeze
* less people
* subway / buses less crowded
* less soot everywhere
people here have clean shoes unlike Beijing where you get soot all over your shoes
people are less trendy than Beijing
people here are less skinny, with darker skin (slightly)
everyone you talk to in shops is happy to have a chat for a while etc
it is more friendly than Beijing
Maybe I am just in holiday mode I don't know
It is not packed with attrctions for tourists. a few but not so many interesting things as Beijing. if you are coming on a brief trip to China go to Beijing.
I LOVE SHANGHAI
today I went to the
Lu Xun Museum who is a famous writer from about the 1920's
I bought his book Wild Grass.... I love teh way he writes it inspires me
This morning I went to the train station (by subway) and bought tickets to Nanjing and then a ticket from Nanjing to Beijing. Got a train ticket!!!!
although SOFT SLEEPER :( I really REALLY REALLY LOVE HARD sleep
like to rough it
I enjoyed taking the subway to the interprovince train station. the Europeans that I am traveling with always want to catch taxi's. I just don't think I get to see the real China in a taxi.
THis afternoon went to the LongHua Paviliion
was great but funny
close by I saw traditional Chinese buildings with a McDonalds, KFC and TESCO sign stuck on.
ummm
yeah the monastry had some old intricate locks on doors, lion door handles, yellow walks with dark red moon door
some Indian style writing
worth a look I would say ( and I have seen A LOT of Chinese tempeles in my time)
Oh one last thing about Shanghai
Shang hai is divided by a lake Huan Pu Jiang and the walk along the older side is called THe Bund which has the 1920's architecture
across the other side is the modern sky scrapers and futuristic looking buildings
I have not been there yet. but apparentlyu tehy have london store H & M
okay betta run
will get a foot massage
have a power nap
then ??? not sure yet
I was Blessed by a Lama
GOT BLESS BY A TIBETAN BUDDHIST MEDICINE MAN /HEAD LAMA
I find the Yong He Gong Tibetan Buddhist Temple very peaceful
Today I went there and visited all the Buddha's living in temple
I love watching people in religious places. You can see how important
the Buddha is to them.
It is like the Buddha is a psychological container to what is most dear to a person.
At the temple today I sat on a park bench and did a single focus meditation
In one of the main halls the Buddhist monks in their maroon robes
were chanting
there were a small gathering of Buddhists sitting on cushions
I sat outside and meditated for 30 minutes
Then I wanted to go inside where the chanting was. I asked the security guard
can I sit on a step that is part of the doorway, he said I can't
Then I asked can I sit in with the buddhists (the non monks)
I put down my jacket and sat on it and meditated
Maybe for an hour, at first it was not so great
but then something happened and I surrendered to the group
I felt like we were all merging together as a group
I just said to myself "let the Buddhists monks voices guide you in your meditation, they are creating a path or a vehicle with it, it is a place to rest your mind, the point at the creation of the sound"
So I did and I felt the group become one.
I felt my ego boundaries disappear. and I felt an connection with every person in that temple
every person in the Lama Temple
every person in Beijing
every person in the world (sounds corny but it is true)
I felt us all held together as one
before outside I had felt a flower of perfection growing from my right cheek and curling up
inside my skull
I could feel my skull, my teeth and how they turned into a skull
and how life, the life inside the mind is like a journey through a long tunnel
passing through time
I could feel the life cycle and impermanence
three people walking along the tunnel of time
child parent and grandparent
and the death and birth cycle
(this is all really hard to explain so probably sounds daft but you had to be there)
so inside the temple
i felt and saw all sorts of things
like a hundred arms reaching up towards the ceiling and they all
entwine and twist until they become like a mountain or sort of screw driver shape
it is funny because it was a particularly Chinese mediation
collectivist
In the west I have meditated and have had moments of emptying the mind
I have also felt at one time that someone came along with an eraser and erased me
But in China I did not just completely disappear but I became something bigger
becoming nothing yet I was still something
part of a larger organism
In China I disappear into something larger than myself
In the west I disappear into nothingness
In Australia I just get rid of the concept of self but did not feel connected
it still felt good though
(during meditation) (
during meditation an old woman was talking to me
she tapped me, started showing me photos
I found it amusing that someone would start chatting to another during mediation
it made me smile, I thought, oh well
she showed me photos of a monk with a halo, pictures of Wu Tai Shan
and photos of a cave at Wu Tai Shan Mu Fo,, The Mother Buddha Cave
pics of her 36yo daughter who works for a BJ newspaper
and gave me her daughters card
after meditation
we went outside the temple and her and two 30 something girls
and I stood around and talked in Chinese
she sent wishes of fortune to me
I think she said that my clothes are too worn etc
I said to her "I want to come here EVERY week and participate in Buddhist activities
do i REALLY have to buy a ticket, I am not a tourist coming to visit this BJ tourist attraction"
She said "I will take you to THE Shifu" (The Master)
You just have to tell them you know THE Shifu and you won't have to buy a ticket
We walked towards a red wall with a moon door
It had a sign "No admitance" in English
"no admitance for tourists" in Chinese
So we were going beyond the facade of the Buddhist temple as a tourist spot
to the real side of an operating Buddhist temple
ordinary Chinese people were standing around, garages with cars,
an apartment block, rooms etc
we went up some stairs into an ordinary apartment block
down a long hall way where we took off our shoes
I entered the room, a small bachelor apartment to see
an old man sitting on a single bed
his eyes were sunken and red
he was old
the Chinese women bowed, got on the floor and put their heads to the floor
I just kind of put my hands in the prayer positing
the old woman said "ta shi gui ren, kao tao"
I Kao toaed to this old man, got on the floor and did the
three bowing that I have luckily learnt before
He gave us three red tablets on our hand and we ate it off
then he pulled out some water from Tibet which had some VERY OLD looking ginger in it
and poured some into the palm of my hand and I lapped it up like a dog
A girl asked to be blessed and he blessed her
Then it was my turn and I kneeled at his feet
he put both hands on my head and started chanting in a deep vibrating way
I actually did feel relaxed and my stress leave from my head but stay in my shoulders
he put his hands on my shoulders and chanted
maybe for 10 minutes or so
The old lady said "they want to participate in meditation here, what about giving them a note so they don't have to pay"
He got pieces of paper from his assistant and he was concentrating, considering
He wrote something in Tibetan on a small white piece of paper and gave it to me and said
rua la ma jia ba
I said "oh"
not really knowing what he meant but not knowing what ask
I was always a bit confused about the ettiquite with the shifu
very unclear and unsure
the way people acted around him
like they were meeting god or something
I was always too shy to say "shenme yisi" about anything (what is the meaning?)
1. could be rude
2. i am sure I would not be able to understand his answer
3. I am trying to get the golden ticket for free weekly access to the lama temple
and if I am totally clueless perhaps I don't deserve this
I was wondering if he was going to ask me "Ni xin xiang fo ma?"
(do you believe in the Buddha?")
because IF he did I would have been left with an ethical dilema
I would have said "no" and told the truth
anyway i felt comfortable enough asking questions to the old lady and his assistant
they said "this is Tibetan writing it is your name"
"I was like, this is someones name? this is his name?"
"zhe shi nide mingzi, zang yu mingzi"
??? WODE mingzi??? (my name???) dui dui
OH! rua la ma jia ba
qing xie zhongwen (please write it in Chinese)
they wrote it in Pinyin (roman character writing of Chinese)
I asked for it in characters too (otherwise I wont' be able to work out the meaning and I want my Chinese friends to tell me about it)
Then they wrote the 师父 THE Shifu's name
师父 ： l拉西 仁 饮 (the last character should have the zhong or yin radical)
My Tibetan name is
如拉玛布 布 (with a ren radical)
如 ＝ like, as, if
拉 ＝ pull, draw, drag
玛 ＝ agate
布 ＝ cloth, but not sure what it means when it is written with the ren character
anyway perhaps the Chinese characters are just a phonetic way to write the Tibetan language
and don't actually contain any important meaning
but will tell you what the characters are made of
female, mouth, hand, kind, horse,
The old lady said that
"mu fo bao ni"
Mother Buddha Protects and holds you
is the meaning :)
pinyin is
rua la ma jia ba
yeah my computers does not have Tibetan script on it
not sure I could write it anyway
:)
I did remember from my time in Tibetan Buddhist centres in Australia not to turn my back
on a holy person
so I walked out of his flat backwards.
I find the Yong He Gong Tibetan Buddhist Temple very peaceful
Today I went there and visited all the Buddha's living in temple
I love watching people in religious places. You can see how important
the Buddha is to them.
It is like the Buddha is a psychological container to what is most dear to a person.
At the temple today I sat on a park bench and did a single focus meditation
In one of the main halls the Buddhist monks in their maroon robes
were chanting
there were a small gathering of Buddhists sitting on cushions
I sat outside and meditated for 30 minutes
Then I wanted to go inside where the chanting was. I asked the security guard
can I sit on a step that is part of the doorway, he said I can't
Then I asked can I sit in with the buddhists (the non monks)
I put down my jacket and sat on it and meditated
Maybe for an hour, at first it was not so great
but then something happened and I surrendered to the group
I felt like we were all merging together as a group
I just said to myself "let the Buddhists monks voices guide you in your meditation, they are creating a path or a vehicle with it, it is a place to rest your mind, the point at the creation of the sound"
So I did and I felt the group become one.
I felt my ego boundaries disappear. and I felt an connection with every person in that temple
every person in the Lama Temple
every person in Beijing
every person in the world (sounds corny but it is true)
I felt us all held together as one
before outside I had felt a flower of perfection growing from my right cheek and curling up
inside my skull
I could feel my skull, my teeth and how they turned into a skull
and how life, the life inside the mind is like a journey through a long tunnel
passing through time
I could feel the life cycle and impermanence
three people walking along the tunnel of time
child parent and grandparent
and the death and birth cycle
(this is all really hard to explain so probably sounds daft but you had to be there)
so inside the temple
i felt and saw all sorts of things
like a hundred arms reaching up towards the ceiling and they all
entwine and twist until they become like a mountain or sort of screw driver shape
it is funny because it was a particularly Chinese mediation
collectivist
In the west I have meditated and have had moments of emptying the mind
I have also felt at one time that someone came along with an eraser and erased me
But in China I did not just completely disappear but I became something bigger
becoming nothing yet I was still something
part of a larger organism
In China I disappear into something larger than myself
In the west I disappear into nothingness
In Australia I just get rid of the concept of self but did not feel connected
it still felt good though
(during meditation) (
during meditation an old woman was talking to me
she tapped me, started showing me photos
I found it amusing that someone would start chatting to another during mediation
it made me smile, I thought, oh well
she showed me photos of a monk with a halo, pictures of Wu Tai Shan
and photos of a cave at Wu Tai Shan Mu Fo,, The Mother Buddha Cave
pics of her 36yo daughter who works for a BJ newspaper
and gave me her daughters card
after meditation
we went outside the temple and her and two 30 something girls
and I stood around and talked in Chinese
she sent wishes of fortune to me
I think she said that my clothes are too worn etc
I said to her "I want to come here EVERY week and participate in Buddhist activities
do i REALLY have to buy a ticket, I am not a tourist coming to visit this BJ tourist attraction"
She said "I will take you to THE Shifu" (The Master)
You just have to tell them you know THE Shifu and you won't have to buy a ticket
We walked towards a red wall with a moon door
It had a sign "No admitance" in English
"no admitance for tourists" in Chinese
So we were going beyond the facade of the Buddhist temple as a tourist spot
to the real side of an operating Buddhist temple
ordinary Chinese people were standing around, garages with cars,
an apartment block, rooms etc
we went up some stairs into an ordinary apartment block
down a long hall way where we took off our shoes
I entered the room, a small bachelor apartment to see
an old man sitting on a single bed
his eyes were sunken and red
he was old
the Chinese women bowed, got on the floor and put their heads to the floor
I just kind of put my hands in the prayer positing
the old woman said "ta shi gui ren, kao tao"
I Kao toaed to this old man, got on the floor and did the
three bowing that I have luckily learnt before
He gave us three red tablets on our hand and we ate it off
then he pulled out some water from Tibet which had some VERY OLD looking ginger in it
and poured some into the palm of my hand and I lapped it up like a dog
A girl asked to be blessed and he blessed her
Then it was my turn and I kneeled at his feet
he put both hands on my head and started chanting in a deep vibrating way
I actually did feel relaxed and my stress leave from my head but stay in my shoulders
he put his hands on my shoulders and chanted
maybe for 10 minutes or so
The old lady said "they want to participate in meditation here, what about giving them a note so they don't have to pay"
He got pieces of paper from his assistant and he was concentrating, considering
He wrote something in Tibetan on a small white piece of paper and gave it to me and said
rua la ma jia ba
I said "oh"
not really knowing what he meant but not knowing what ask
I was always a bit confused about the ettiquite with the shifu
very unclear and unsure
the way people acted around him
like they were meeting god or something
I was always too shy to say "shenme yisi" about anything (what is the meaning?)
1. could be rude
2. i am sure I would not be able to understand his answer
3. I am trying to get the golden ticket for free weekly access to the lama temple
and if I am totally clueless perhaps I don't deserve this
I was wondering if he was going to ask me "Ni xin xiang fo ma?"
(do you believe in the Buddha?")
because IF he did I would have been left with an ethical dilema
I would have said "no" and told the truth
anyway i felt comfortable enough asking questions to the old lady and his assistant
they said "this is Tibetan writing it is your name"
"I was like, this is someones name? this is his name?"
"zhe shi nide mingzi, zang yu mingzi"
??? WODE mingzi??? (my name???) dui dui
OH! rua la ma jia ba
qing xie zhongwen (please write it in Chinese)
they wrote it in Pinyin (roman character writing of Chinese)
I asked for it in characters too (otherwise I wont' be able to work out the meaning and I want my Chinese friends to tell me about it)
Then they wrote the 师父 THE Shifu's name
师父 ： l拉西 仁 饮 (the last character should have the zhong or yin radical)
My Tibetan name is
如拉玛布 布 (with a ren radical)
如 ＝ like, as, if
拉 ＝ pull, draw, drag
玛 ＝ agate
布 ＝ cloth, but not sure what it means when it is written with the ren character
anyway perhaps the Chinese characters are just a phonetic way to write the Tibetan language
and don't actually contain any important meaning
but will tell you what the characters are made of
female, mouth, hand, kind, horse,
The old lady said that
"mu fo bao ni"
Mother Buddha Protects and holds you
is the meaning :)
pinyin is
rua la ma jia ba
yeah my computers does not have Tibetan script on it
not sure I could write it anyway
:)
I did remember from my time in Tibetan Buddhist centres in Australia not to turn my back
on a holy person
so I walked out of his flat backwards.
ZHOU EN LAI etc
FAMOUS PERSON (according to RM)
ZHOU EN LAI
Zhou En Lai was the communist leader during about 1924
his dad died when he was about 2 years old
his uncle adopted him
at first he was living with his mother in a big family
because his father was dead they were poor and did not have
enough food. and the extended did not welcome them
he could not afford to go to school
his uncle tried to help them
In high school he was interested in drama
and he would often play female roles
dressing up as a girl
he was very beautiful
there was a lot of students demonstrating on the street
at that time
against the invading foreingers
British, Japanese, French etc
He was a leader of the student protest movement.
After high school he went to France and studied Marxism
he established the first party branch in Europe
Chinese Communist Party branch (in France)
Deng Xiao Ping was with him in France at that time
When Zhang Xiang Min (previous president of China)
in 1998 visited France
they found the ID card of Deng Xiao Ping of when he was
working in the factory in France
and they gave it to Zhang Xiang Min
as a present
WHO THE CHINESE HATE
From the lips of RM (a Chinese guy)
WHo they hate and why
The opera was for the education of the poor people
It taught people how to behave
There are a lot of bad guys in these operas
They are the people that the Chinese hate
The white face is always the bad guy
CAO CAO
Cao Cao is the most famous bad guy.
In the real history he was a great man. One of the greatest
Chairman Mao admired him very much and wrote a poem about him.
Cao Cao also wrote poetry.
In the Opera he is biggest bad guy.
In that time people were supposed to be loyal to the Emperor.
They were supposed to do ANYTHING they can do for the Emperor.
The Emperor owned their life, everything.
In the opera with Cao Cao the Emperor was quite poor.
Cao Cao had money, an army and everything.
Is he still considered the biggest bad guy in China?
YES, kind of
WHY?
Because everybody is supposed to follow the Emperor
BUT THERE IS NO EMPEROR TODAY?
So we are talking about history
However, Chinese feel that it is important to be united
and loyal to the government today.
SO CAO CAO WAS A CAPITALIST. HOARDED WEALTH FOR HIMESELF?
You could say that.
WHICH AGE GROUP DON'T LIKE HIM?
The old people don't like him. Young people probably don't know him.
I read a lot of history
REAL PEOPLE NOW
The Da La i La Ma
Because he wants to separate China
Chen Shui Bian
He is the former leader of Taiwan.
He wants Taiwan to be an independet country
He wants to separate China.
The Japanese
THe former Japanese Premier visited the shrine in
Japan. In refused to appologise to the Asian people for
the Japanse invasion. The Chinese hate him.
The Four People
1. Chairman Mao's Wife
Jiang Qing
2. Wang Hu Wen
Former vice President of the Communist Party
3. Yao Wen Yuan
Standing member of the Central Politcal Bureau
4. Zhang Chun Qiao
Offical in charge of ideology
During the cultural revolution they did a lot of bad things
They tortured people
especially the officials
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ZHOU EN LAI
Zhou En Lai was the communist leader during about 1924
his dad died when he was about 2 years old
his uncle adopted him
at first he was living with his mother in a big family
because his father was dead they were poor and did not have
enough food. and the extended did not welcome them
he could not afford to go to school
his uncle tried to help them
In high school he was interested in drama
and he would often play female roles
dressing up as a girl
he was very beautiful
there was a lot of students demonstrating on the street
at that time
against the invading foreingers
British, Japanese, French etc
He was a leader of the student protest movement.
After high school he went to France and studied Marxism
he established the first party branch in Europe
Chinese Communist Party branch (in France)
Deng Xiao Ping was with him in France at that time
When Zhang Xiang Min (previous president of China)
in 1998 visited France
they found the ID card of Deng Xiao Ping of when he was
working in the factory in France
and they gave it to Zhang Xiang Min
as a present
WHO THE CHINESE HATE
From the lips of RM (a Chinese guy)
WHo they hate and why
The opera was for the education of the poor people
It taught people how to behave
There are a lot of bad guys in these operas
They are the people that the Chinese hate
The white face is always the bad guy
CAO CAO
Cao Cao is the most famous bad guy.
In the real history he was a great man. One of the greatest
Chairman Mao admired him very much and wrote a poem about him.
Cao Cao also wrote poetry.
In the Opera he is biggest bad guy.
In that time people were supposed to be loyal to the Emperor.
They were supposed to do ANYTHING they can do for the Emperor.
The Emperor owned their life, everything.
In the opera with Cao Cao the Emperor was quite poor.
Cao Cao had money, an army and everything.
Is he still considered the biggest bad guy in China?
YES, kind of
WHY?
Because everybody is supposed to follow the Emperor
BUT THERE IS NO EMPEROR TODAY?
So we are talking about history
However, Chinese feel that it is important to be united
and loyal to the government today.
SO CAO CAO WAS A CAPITALIST. HOARDED WEALTH FOR HIMESELF?
You could say that.
WHICH AGE GROUP DON'T LIKE HIM?
The old people don't like him. Young people probably don't know him.
I read a lot of history
REAL PEOPLE NOW
The Da La i La Ma
Because he wants to separate China
Chen Shui Bian
He is the former leader of Taiwan.
He wants Taiwan to be an independet country
He wants to separate China.
The Japanese
THe former Japanese Premier visited the shrine in
Japan. In refused to appologise to the Asian people for
the Japanse invasion. The Chinese hate him.
The Four People
1. Chairman Mao's Wife
Jiang Qing
2. Wang Hu Wen
Former vice President of the Communist Party
3. Yao Wen Yuan
Standing member of the Central Politcal Bureau
4. Zhang Chun Qiao
Offical in charge of ideology
During the cultural revolution they did a lot of bad things
They tortured people
especially the officials
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
LAMA TEMPLE/AZURE CLOUD TEMPLE
LAMA TEMPLE
Today I went to the Yong He Gong Lama Temple
Buddhist temple
I was watched people bowing at the buddhas
Looking at the relics, statues, ancient architecture
I started to really felt that this is a special place
I felt this temple contains all that is most precious to people.
I am sure many people believe in the reality of the buddha
I think the buddhas were created as humans wanted an external
expression of certain feelings, qualities etc
I saw a mandala. a colourful mandala made of sand
so perfect, so intricate and so temporary
and I tried to notice my feeling response to the the different buddhas
and buddhist artifacts
seeing there still repose can sometimes make me feel at peace
AZURE CLOUD TEMPLE
2008 SEPTEMBER
Yesterday I went to Xiang Shan 香山 (fragrant hills) named as such because the hill
looks like a giant incense burner
The park was built in 1186
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragrant_Hills
We visited the Azure Cloud Temple BiYun Si 碧云寺
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Azure_Clouds
which is at Xiang Shan
to me this place is very special
all the details really grab me
you walk up a hill to the top pagoda
which is made of white stone
the stone has a sandy texture to it
the pagoda extends up high
it looks almost Indian or Malaysian
as I look out over views of overlapping mountains
I see the profiles of meditating buddhas in different poses
to get up to the top there was barely lit stone stairs
that went up through a little cave
so old and simple
I felt like I was in the middle ages and should be carrying a candle
the combination of white carved buddhas
Chinese pine trees across the skyline for miles
layers of mountains of dark green, light green, and grey blue
watching the view so clear up close but slowly disappearing into eternity
it seems so peaceful
especially looking out on green
and walking past the peaceful expression of the buddha meditating
inside the pagoda a biggish cave cut out
letting in all the light
and in it is perhaps something that has Sun Yatsen's clothing
it looks like an elaborate piece of furniture from the louvre in Paris
although it is made of stone and it has an Indian presence
it has those intricate swirling details that you see in Versailles
it is very beautiful, simple, almost humble
not with the arrogant air of Paris
but with the humble beauty of India
I can't explain it
It takes us an hour to walk up and walk down
on the way down there is
dark grey blue water with at least 500 bright orange gold fish swimming
one of the gold fish is bright golden yellow, they are about the size of bananas
there are maybe 3 dull golden big fish, they are the size of a rugby ball
and move slowly and stupidly about this lake
it is so beautiful watching these fish
the smaller ones move so fast, all in one direction like hundreds of arrows flying in unison through the sky
the water is a particularly beautiful shade of blue
I am focusing on this scene but then look
at where it is situated
it is a square pond surrounded by old white stone, carved with that Chinese still
cylinders and dragon details carved on
the pond has a Chinese arched bridged.
dark green pine trees are around
and the contrast brilliantly with the red walls
and grey curvey traditional Chinese roofs surrounding us
the gutter (awnings) of the buildings near by have paintings on them
blue, green, yellow, white, black
flowers, ancient man with a calligraphy brush, exotic birds, phoenix, dragon etc
it is a beautiful scene
and sometimes on my way down
I will spot a lone dragon
sitting in a still lake
a beautiful creature, yet even more beautiful
when you can see the atrophy of time
he has been there for a long time, seen a lot
Today I went to the Yong He Gong Lama Temple
Buddhist temple
I was watched people bowing at the buddhas
Looking at the relics, statues, ancient architecture
I started to really felt that this is a special place
I felt this temple contains all that is most precious to people.
I am sure many people believe in the reality of the buddha
I think the buddhas were created as humans wanted an external
expression of certain feelings, qualities etc
I saw a mandala. a colourful mandala made of sand
so perfect, so intricate and so temporary
and I tried to notice my feeling response to the the different buddhas
and buddhist artifacts
seeing there still repose can sometimes make me feel at peace
AZURE CLOUD TEMPLE
2008 SEPTEMBER
Yesterday I went to Xiang Shan 香山 (fragrant hills) named as such because the hill
looks like a giant incense burner
The park was built in 1186
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragrant_Hills
We visited the Azure Cloud Temple BiYun Si 碧云寺
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Azure_Clouds
which is at Xiang Shan
to me this place is very special
all the details really grab me
you walk up a hill to the top pagoda
which is made of white stone
the stone has a sandy texture to it
the pagoda extends up high
it looks almost Indian or Malaysian
as I look out over views of overlapping mountains
I see the profiles of meditating buddhas in different poses
to get up to the top there was barely lit stone stairs
that went up through a little cave
so old and simple
I felt like I was in the middle ages and should be carrying a candle
the combination of white carved buddhas
Chinese pine trees across the skyline for miles
layers of mountains of dark green, light green, and grey blue
watching the view so clear up close but slowly disappearing into eternity
it seems so peaceful
especially looking out on green
and walking past the peaceful expression of the buddha meditating
inside the pagoda a biggish cave cut out
letting in all the light
and in it is perhaps something that has Sun Yatsen's clothing
it looks like an elaborate piece of furniture from the louvre in Paris
although it is made of stone and it has an Indian presence
it has those intricate swirling details that you see in Versailles
it is very beautiful, simple, almost humble
not with the arrogant air of Paris
but with the humble beauty of India
I can't explain it
It takes us an hour to walk up and walk down
on the way down there is
dark grey blue water with at least 500 bright orange gold fish swimming
one of the gold fish is bright golden yellow, they are about the size of bananas
there are maybe 3 dull golden big fish, they are the size of a rugby ball
and move slowly and stupidly about this lake
it is so beautiful watching these fish
the smaller ones move so fast, all in one direction like hundreds of arrows flying in unison through the sky
the water is a particularly beautiful shade of blue
I am focusing on this scene but then look
at where it is situated
it is a square pond surrounded by old white stone, carved with that Chinese still
cylinders and dragon details carved on
the pond has a Chinese arched bridged.
dark green pine trees are around
and the contrast brilliantly with the red walls
and grey curvey traditional Chinese roofs surrounding us
the gutter (awnings) of the buildings near by have paintings on them
blue, green, yellow, white, black
flowers, ancient man with a calligraphy brush, exotic birds, phoenix, dragon etc
it is a beautiful scene
and sometimes on my way down
I will spot a lone dragon
sitting in a still lake
a beautiful creature, yet even more beautiful
when you can see the atrophy of time
he has been there for a long time, seen a lot
2008 August 上海 Shanghai
SHANGHAI AUGUST 2008
I unexpectedly love Shanghai
I arrived on the train from Hangzhou at midday today
Taxi to a quaint little hostel in a back alley that is
so CHINESE
Shanghai is reigniting my love for China
So I walked all day today
I walked to the yayuan park area???????
It is that cool place with the zig zag bridge
and has white buildings brown roofs, the roofs curling up at the end-- so Chinese
Shanghai has blue skies, less pollution, the traffic is slower and it is more relaxed less heavy than Beijing
People are friendly enough
LOTS of GREEN
reminds me a lot of SYdney because many buidlings are built in the
20's and 30's
People complain that it is too western
but I think it is DEFINITELY CHINESE
longs or bikes, Chinese laundry - people hanging their laundry outside there
window
Shang Hai is a clean Chinese city but it has enough grit to give in character
went for a walk along the Bund
I unexpectedly love Shanghai
I arrived on the train from Hangzhou at midday today
Taxi to a quaint little hostel in a back alley that is
so CHINESE
Shanghai is reigniting my love for China
So I walked all day today
I walked to the yayuan park area???????
It is that cool place with the zig zag bridge
and has white buildings brown roofs, the roofs curling up at the end-- so Chinese
Shanghai has blue skies, less pollution, the traffic is slower and it is more relaxed less heavy than Beijing
People are friendly enough
LOTS of GREEN
reminds me a lot of SYdney because many buidlings are built in the
20's and 30's
People complain that it is too western
but I think it is DEFINITELY CHINESE
longs or bikes, Chinese laundry - people hanging their laundry outside there
window
Shang Hai is a clean Chinese city but it has enough grit to give in character
went for a walk along the Bund
MING TOMBs 十三陵
THE MING TOMBS
JULY 2008
The Ming Tombs are where 13 emperors from the Ming Dynasty are burried
We went to the sacred way which has various animals and officials (statues) lining the way
The Ming Tombs are about 2 hours away from Beijing in a farming area
They are situated near some mountains
The grounds are immaculate with bright green grass and
beautiful trees
A grand red building starts the path
The place is very peaceful with willows hanging
time stands still
The statues are white, large and detailed
even the details on the officials clothes and hats are intricate
The elephants even have a penis
I think it is worth a look
and I saw some westerners which reminded me that
I am not the fattest person in the world
DIRECTIONS
XIZHIMEN NAN DA JIE bus 694 for 5 minutes
bus 919 goes to Chang Ping Dong Guan
bus 314 get off at Nan Xin Cun (near the sacred way) (Shen Lu)
or
catch line 13 to Li shui qiao
catch bus 22 to Nan Xin Cun
or Chang Ling
JULY 2008
The Ming Tombs are where 13 emperors from the Ming Dynasty are burried
We went to the sacred way which has various animals and officials (statues) lining the way
The Ming Tombs are about 2 hours away from Beijing in a farming area
They are situated near some mountains
The grounds are immaculate with bright green grass and
beautiful trees
A grand red building starts the path
The place is very peaceful with willows hanging
time stands still
The statues are white, large and detailed
even the details on the officials clothes and hats are intricate
The elephants even have a penis
I think it is worth a look
and I saw some westerners which reminded me that
I am not the fattest person in the world
DIRECTIONS
XIZHIMEN NAN DA JIE bus 694 for 5 minutes
bus 919 goes to Chang Ping Dong Guan
bus 314 get off at Nan Xin Cun (near the sacred way) (Shen Lu)
or
catch line 13 to Li shui qiao
catch bus 22 to Nan Xin Cun
or Chang Ling
CONFORMITY
CONFORMITY
YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT CONFORMITY IS A GOOD THING IN CHINA
I CAN SEE MANY GOOD THINGS IN CONFORMITY
(BAD TOO)
AS A WESTERNER I VALUE NON-CONFORMITY
CONFORMING TO WESTERN VALUES I VALUE NON-CONFORMITY
ANYWAY HERE IS SOME VIEW ON WHY CONFORMITY IS SEEN AS GOOD OR BAD
CONFORMITY/ NON-CONFORMITY AS GOOD / BAD
ON CONFORMITY as bad
Conformity is generally seen as a bad thing in Western countries.
Why?
If you conform you
* lack originality
which means you cannot create any new ides, society cannot progress or evolve
which means you don't have a self
in the west it is important to distinguish yourself as separate from others
to show you have a self
* people don't know
people don't know what you truly think, if you just parrot a religion or what everyone says
people think you have no personality
* power imbalance
westerners thinks that conformity occurs when there is a power imbalance
with the most powerful class setting the standard and everyone has to go
along with this -- even if it is harmful to you
maybe it will only benefit the most powerful group
* boring
westerners find it boring if everyone is the same
too predictable
* childish
it is seen as childish and weak.
it is seen as unintelligent because if you were intelligent you would have your own ideas
it is seen as uninteresting if you were interesting you would say something new or different
if you were strong, you would be strong enough to tell your true feelings despite others disaproval
* sacrifice
people in the west feel sorry for people who conform
because they feel like the "real them" is in there but cannot be shown
westerners see this as painful
the idea of not being able to be yourself
being yourself means -- be able to do and say what is honestly in your heart
* not real love
In the west we believe that there are differences between people
and true loves acepts others despite these differences
maybe you want your child to be a musician
but the child wants to be a sports star
the parent that truly loves his child would love them
unconditionally ----- that is without conditions, without 要求
because they want there child to be 'true to himself'
CONFORMITY AS GOOD
SAFETY
things are very safe with conformity. you know what everyone is going to do.
what is expected, you don't have to think too much. and you
don't know anything but conformity you don't think you are
missing out on your 'true self'. your true self is embedded in your
relationships with others.
you are not thinking "if only I could do X" or "say X" because
you have absorbed the culture so much that you never think
about doing x, or saying x. that thought has not crossed your mind
because you have totally observed the group values.
EASIER
it is easier. everyone gets along well.
everyone is doing the same thing.
for example. you want to get married and have kids by 27.
so does everyone else in the society.
whereas in the west there are 20 choices
eg. marry/not marry, kids/no kids, marry between 18 -99,
have kids between 13 -42, divorce, not marry have kids, celibate,
live together, don't etc. gay/straight. sex before/after marriage etc
so not only do westerners have SO many choices.
when you love someone maybe they DON"t want the same thing.
she wants to marry, he doesn't, he wants kids, she doesn't
also you are supposed to finish uni in your 20s.
post grad courses in Aus are full of people from the age of 24 -78yo
lots of 40yo finally make time to do their Phd.
so westerners have to alway think "what will I do this year? move to Italy, do a Phd, change careers?"
where in China you don't have those decisions to contend with. because
people will think you are weird.
You don't have to ponder the meaning of life.
In every choice one has to make
It forces one to reeaxmine their values.
What is the most important thing in life?
Is it enjoyment? money? time? family?
etc
really have to think "What do I really want?"
weighing up all the options makes many people
look towards philosophy, psychology, spirituality,
different advice from friends, new age , fortune tellers.
It does make you think "who am I?"
what do I want my life to be like.
Then you realise there is no right or wrong.
it can lead to an existential crisis.
In China there is a ready made value system
telling you what everyone wants from their life
and what is important.
So YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT IS IMPORTANT
which saves a lot of time and energy
and maybe in the West sometimes you regret your choices
BELONGING
you feel the sense of belonging and harmony with other people
CARING FOR OTHERS
showing that you follow your parents values makes them happy
you care for the other people and your family in society
you don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable
so you maybe curb your thoughts and behaviour for the good of the whole
REAL LOVE
you love other people more than yourself
you think of others first
so don't bring up radically different ideas
or behave in a radically different way
(do people really want to do this anyway
are we just taught in the west that there is
a 'real me' longing to get out and express itself?)
NON-CONFORMITY AS GOOD
CHOICE
non conformity means people can choose their religion,
what they wear, what they say or write, when they do things,
how they do things --- without others stopping them
of course in the West we have to curb our choices
if we share a house we need to share with people who
have similar values. ie like to play loud music
westerners believe that if you are not hurting anyone then it is okay.
If a man wears a dress. In Australia that man will probably get bashed
and suffer discrimination. People will stare etc. There is conformity.
However, educated people would argue that it is okay for a man to wear
a dress. They would say "it is not hurting anyone else". They would argue that
in Scotland men wear skirts and through history men wore skirts.
That while in current time men usually don't this could always change
as things always change through history.
Anyway in the west we believe in freedom of choice.
"It is your choice"
"It is his choice"
"It is your life do what you want with it"
"As long as your are not hurting anyone, do what you like"
"It's my life, I will do what I see fit"
"It is none of your business what other people do"
"Who are you to judge?"
"Who died and made you God"
"Free to be me"
CREATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC INVENTION
people used to think the world was flat.
everyone just went along and agreed with this.
until someone thought for themself
did not just copy but started to think "is that true"
questioned, and made a discovery of what was actually the case
If we just parrot what other people say
we never grow or find anything new.
so there is much evolution in the West.
new technology, fashion
people do and say diverse things
and this is encouraged
and sometimes
fashion, technology, science, art, literature is transformed
In Western education we are encouraged to be creative.
It is not about getting things "right" or "wrong"
It is about trying. It is about thinking.
We are told "Don't believe everything teachers, text books or authorities tell you"
Decide for yourself.
This was resisted in art at first.
INTELLIGENCE
see above. memory is not enough
to be considered intelligent in the west
you have to think of new ideas
and be able to think things in depth
INTERESTING
We believe non conformity makes life interesting
We like surprises. Meeting someone who totally changes the way
we think. Seeing a film that really opens our eyes.
Being engaged in debate or disagreement.
Having choices so life is not predictable.
Meeting people who are totally different
language, culture, lifestyle and finding things in common
and learning about what is different.
People who are very much non conformers
are seen as entertaining, interesting, quirky
unusual, artistic
and they are usually liked (in big cities)
HAPPINESS
we believe people who conform are generally unhappy
we think of the real them trapped inside their body
but unable to be real in the outside world
BRAVE
we see non-conformists as brave.
there are many stories of people who lived a lie
for years. not being there TRUE self
just did what their parents wanted
then got the courage to be real
and how some people did not accept them
and some people did (THEIR TRUE FRIENDS ACCEPTED THEM)
or people did not at first accept them, but then they began to understand
LEADERS
are leaders, not followers,
set the trends
people copy them
not them copying others
ground breaking innovators
ADULT
showing that you can make your own decisions shows you are
an adult
not a little kid that has to ask mummy what you are allowed or not allowed to do
not someone who has to get permission but a fully functioning
who relies on themself not on parents and others
POLITICAL
NON CONFORMITY AS BAD
BETRAYING SOCIETY AND YOUR PARENTS
why you don't conform your parents feel sad
they are worried what other people think
and society thinks you don't care about other people
IMMATURE
some westerners see non-conformers as immature
attention seekers, who will get over it when they grow up
(i think this sometimes)
they also note many non conformers conform to a
small subculture like Gothics
which are very conformist in their non conformity
WASTE TIME AND MONEY
people who don't conform in fashion way.
like punks or goths or something spend so
much money being 'non conformist"
or painting your car with dots or something
that people think "why bother if it takes SO much effort to not conform"
ARGUMENTATIVE/ANGRY
some people have ideas radically different to the group
these people are seen as trouble makers
the "angry young man" thing
people wonder if they really care so much
about rights or if they just want to make trouble
HARD TO UNDERSTAND?
some people are very happy to follow the mainstream
want to get married, be rich, shop, have children,
be a typical woman/man etc. this is what they prefer?
so they don't understand non-conformists at all
Why do they have to xxxxx?
Why do they xxxxx?"
they just look others sideways, screw up their face
then shrug their shoulders, they think non conformers are laughable
RELIGIOUS
you should have faith in God
RELIANT ON AUTHORITY/ILLOGICAL THINKING/TRADITION
x said it was right so it must be right
this is the way we have always done it, so it must be right
at first I started sorting them into groups but gave up, too time consuming.
for first 20 or so are grouped,
the other ones are not
CONFORMITY
GOOD/NEUTRAL
birds of a feather flock together
don't cut of you toe to spite your face
Follow the well beaten path
We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it. ~Charles Dudley Warner
CONFORMITY
BAD
everyone is jumping someone elses train (copying)
you find you lived your life for people who did not like then and do not like you now (sacrifice)
It is crazy to see people be what society wants them to be - but not me
You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. ~Doug Floyd The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself. ~Rita Mae Brown, Venus Envy A "Normal" person is the sort of person that might be designed by a committee. You know, "Each person puts in a pretty color and it comes out gray." ~Alan Sherman
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. ~Winston Churchill Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road. ~Voltaire The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking. ~J.K. Galbraith
NON-CONFORMITY
GOOD
why be normal?
Think for yourself
Don't just read out of a text book
Oh that's original (when someone says something someone else thinks)
Be yourself
Free to be me
The Road Less Traveled
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
TRUE TO YOURSELF, INTERESTING
Nature made us individuals, as she did the flowers and the pebbles; but we are afraid to be peculiar, and so our society resembles a bag of marbles, or a string of mold candles. Why should we all dress after the same fashion? The frost never paints my windows twice alike. ~Lydia Maria Child
NATURAL AND BEAUTIFUL
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
INNOVATION
NON-CONFORMITY
BAD
NON GROUPED ONES
CONFORMITY QUOTES
Welcome to The Quote Garden!
Every society honors its live conformists, and its dead troublemakers. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
INNOVATION
Don't think you're on the right road just because it’s a well-beaten path. ~Author Unknown
NO RIGHT OR WRONG
Most people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions. ~Author Unknown
INNOVATION
Stubborness does have its helpful features. You always know what you are going to be thinking tomorrow. ~Glen Beaman
INTELLIGENCE
Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity. ~Christopher Morley
???
You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. ~Doug Floyd
INTEREST
The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself. ~Rita Mae Brown, Venus Envy
TRUE TO YOURSELF
A "Normal" person is the sort of person that might be designed by a committee. You know, "Each person puts in a pretty color and it comes out gray." ~Alan Sherman
UNINTERESTING
Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people. ~Martina Navratilova
The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain. ~Colin
Wilson
UNHAPPINESS/UNINTERESTING
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary. ~Albert Einstein
INNOVATION/GREATNESS
In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. ~Bertrand Russell
INNOVATION
Not all those who wander are lost. ~J.R.R. Tolkien
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. ~Winston Churchill
BRAVE
We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it. ~Charles Dudley Warner
Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road. ~Voltaire
BRAVE
The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking. ~J.K. Galbraith
BRAVE/INTELLIGENT
The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them. ~George Bernard Shaw
SCIENTIFIC REALITY
What this country needs is radicals who will stay that way regardless of the creeping years. ~John Fischer
With the pride of the artist, you must blow against the walls of every power that exists the small trumpet of your defiance. ~Norman Mailer
BRAVE
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. ~Mark Twain
THE MAJORITY IS GENERALLY UNTHINKING, AND USUALLY WRONG
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
BRAVE
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. ~John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
LOGIC
Doubt is healthy. It tests one's convictions. ~From the movie Haunted
Before you can break out of prison, you must first realize you're locked up. ~Author Unknown
FREEDOM
Ain't no man can avoid being average, but there ain't no man got to be common. ~Satchel Paige
One who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints. ~Proverb
LACK OF INNOVATION
Be neither a conformist or a rebel, for they are really the same thing. Find your own path, and stay on it. ~Paul Vixie
BALANCE
I may not be different, but I'm definitely not the same. ~William J. Dybus
BALANCE
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. ~Herman Melville
INNOVATION, TRYING, MAKING YOUR MARK
We need - and should encourage and honour - not only discoverers of facts hitherto unknown but explorers of ideas and rethinkers of values. ~Walter Moberly, The Crisis in the University
If you don't control your mind, someone else will. ~John Allston
FREEDOM
In the moment of our creation we receive the stamp of our individuality; and much of life is spent in rubbing off or defacing the impression. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
NATURE
Be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out. ~Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
HA HA
To be dragged in the wake of the passive flock and to pass a hundred and one times beneath the shears of the shepherd, or to die alone like a brave eagle on a rocky crag of a great mountain: that is the dilemma. ~Praxedis Guerrero, RegeneraciÓn, 18 February 1911
HA HA GREATNESS, OR MEDIOCRE
I guess I've spent my life listening to what wasn't being said. ~Eli Khamarov, America Explained!
Human beings, for all their pretensions, have a remarkable propensity for lending themselves to classification somewhere within neatly labeled categories. Even the outrageous exceptions may be classified as outrageous exceptions! ~W.J. Reichmann
I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. ~Wilson Mizner
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. ~Eric Hoffer, Passionate State of Mind, 1955
CONFORMITY IS NATURAL
If you keep doing things like you've always done them, what you'll get is what you've already got. ~Author Unknown
LACK OF INNOVATION
When I was four years old they tried to test my IQ, they showed me this picture of three oranges and a pear. They asked me which one is different and does not belong, they taught me different was wrong. ~Ani Difranco
NO RIGHT OR WRONG
Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity; and fashion will drive them to acquire any custom. ~George Bernard Shaw
What we call human nature in actuality is human habit. ~Jewel Kilcher, Pieces of You
CONFORMITY UNNATURAL
It's a rash man who reaches a conclusion before he gets to it. ~Jacob Levin
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. ~Clarence Darrow
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature. ~George Bernard Shaw
CONFORMITY IS NOT NATURAL
Never accept the proposition that just because a solution satisfies a problem, that it must be the only solution. ~Raymond E. Feist
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. ~Friedrich Nietzsche, The Dawn, 1881
Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don't practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us - and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along. ~Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
My theory is that the hardest work anyone does in life is to appear normal. ~From the movie Ed TV
BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF, EVERYONE IS DIVERSE
I don't rent space to anyone in my head. ~Anonymous man on Candid Camera, answering Allen Funt's question about why he had not gotten upset
Only dead fish swim with the stream. ~Malcolm Muggeridge
UNTHINKING PEOPLE CONFORM
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~G.B. Shaw, Man and Superman, 1903
INNOVATION, PROGRESS
Just because something is tradition doesn't make it right. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book
NO RIGHT OR WRONG
And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps. ~H.L. Mencken
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. ~Alexander Hamilton
I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. ~Fritz Perls
FREEDOM NOT JUDGE
One dog barks at something, and a hundred bark at the bark. ~Chinese Proverb
Common experience shows how much rarer is moral courage than physical bravery. A thousand men will march to the mouth of the cannon where one man will dare espouse an unpopular cause. ~Clarence Darrow, Resist Not Evil
BRAVERY
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. ~Anatole France
CONSENSUS DOES NOT EQUAL TRUTH
Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are. ~Quentin Crisp
NOT BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF
Heresies are experiments in man's unsatisfied search for truth. ~H.G. Wells, Crux Ansata
Fashion is more powerful than any tyrant. ~Latin Proverb
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it - even if I have said it - unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. ~Buddha
DON'T RELY ON AUTHORITY
All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. ~Adlai Stevenson, speech, Princeton, 1954
INNOVATION
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. ~Juan Ramon Jimenez
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds.
~Bob Marley
RELY ON SELF
The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by other people's rules, while quietly playing by your own. ~Michael Korda
SECRETYLY DON'T CONFORM, BUT APPEAR AS IF YOU ARE
I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. ~John Cage
INNOVATION
You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men. ~Max Beerbohm
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. ~Albert Camus
No man can cause more grief than that one clinging blindly to the vices of his ancestors. ~William Faulkner
No. ~President Jimmy Carter's daughter Amy, when asked if she had any message for the children of America
People still retain the errors of their childhood, their nation, and their age, long after they have accepted the truths needed to refute them. ~Condorcet, Progress of the Human Mind, 1794
I believe more follies are committed out of complaisance to the world, than in following our own inclinations. ~Mary Wortley Montagu
CONSCIENCE
The eager and often inconsiderate appeals of reformers and revolutionists are indispensable to counterbalance the inertia and fossilism marking so large a part of human institutions. ~Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas, 1871
The number of those who undergo the fatigue of judging for themselves is very small indeed. ~Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Critic, 1799
IT IS TIRING TO THINK, EASIER TO CONFORM
There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and willfully go wrong for fear of being controlled. ~La Bruyère, Characters, 1688
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance," 1841
SELF RELIANCE, GREATNESS
The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way." ~Grace Hopper
A lawyer's brief will be brief, before a freethinker thinks freely. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
FREETHINKERS ARE FAKES WHO JUST CLAIM TO THINK FREELY
Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs. ~Robert Peel
The marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading "Keep Off." ~Carl Sandburg
Habit rules the unreflecting herd. ~William Wordsworth, Ecclesiastical Sonnets, 1822
STUPIDITY IN CONFORMITY
The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them. ~Albert Einstein, letter to Sigmund Freud, 30 July 1932
NO FREEDOM, BEING CONTROLLED
The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone. ~Henrik Ibsen
BRAVERY
If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking. ~George S. Patton
Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield. ~Aesop, "The Man and His Two Wives," Fables
WEAKNESS IN CONFORMITY
Conformity is that jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. ~John F. Kennedy
LACK OF INNOVATION, FREEDOM
Our concern must be to live while we're alive... to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are. ~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
BEING TRUE TO ONESELF
Every man is a reformer until reform tramps on his toes. ~Edgar Watson Howe, Country Town Sayings, 1911
Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our fathers have done them or that our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a larger part than we suspect of what we think. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. ~Vincent Van Gogh
I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to control and bias my mind, and did not suffer from the general belief that whatever is, is right. ~Henry Bessemer (discovered new method of producing steel)
If you believe everything you read, you better not read. ~Japanese Proverb
FIND YOUR OWN TRUTH
I merely observe that all living things are manipulated. As long as there is a will, it is bent and twisted constantly. Only the dead are allowed the luxury of freedom, and then only because they want nothing, and therefore can't be thwarted. ~Orson Scott Card
You cannot be both fashionable and first-rate. ~Logan Pearsall Smith
GREATNESSS IN NON CONFORMITY
One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea. ~Walter Bagehot
HUMAN NATURE DOESN'T LIKE CHANGE
Public opinion... requires us to think other men's thoughts, to speak other men's words, to follow other men's habits. ~Walter Bagehot, Biographical Studies, 1907
Unless one decorates one's house for oneself alone, best leave it bare, for other people are walleyed. ~D.H. Lawrence
We begin life with the world presenting itself to us as it is. Someone - our parents, teachers, analysts - hypnotizes us to "see" the world and construe it in the "right" way. These others label the world, attach names and give voices to the beings and events in it, so that thereafter, we cannot read the world in any other language or hear it saying other things to us. The task is to break the hypnotic spell, so that we become undeaf, unblind and multilingual, thereby letting the world speak to us in new voices and write all its possible meanings in the new book of our existence. Be careful in your choice of hypnotists. ~Sidney Jourard
RELATIVISM, THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG,
I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side - I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts. ~Bethania McKenstry
LOGIC
But it is just when opinions universally prevail and we have added lip service to their authority that we become sometimes most keenly conscious that we do not believe a word that we are saying. ~Virginia Woolf
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. ~Jonathan Swift
PEOPLE DON'T LIKE NEW IDEAS
Every man who is truly a man must learn to be alone in the midst of all the others, and if need be against all the others. ~Romain Rolland
GREATNESS, TRUE TO YOURSELF, BEING AN ADULT
Minorities are the stars of the firmament; majorities, the darkness in which they float. ~Martin H. Fischer
And who can doubt that it will lead to the worst disorders when minds created free by God are compelled to submit slavishly to an outside will? When we are told to deny our senses and subject them to the will of others? ~Galileo Galilei
Man is a gregarious animal, and much more so in his mind than in his body. He may like to go alone for a walk, but he hates to stand alone in his opinions. ~George Santayana
BELONGING TO SOCIETY
We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent. ~Abraham Flexner, Universities, 1930
At the bottom of a good deal of bravery... lurks a miserable cowardice. Men will face powder and steel because they cannot face public opinion. ~E.H. Chapin
BRAVERY
The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism, monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political, sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to man: members of his own species, bent on ensuring his salvation, security, and sanity. ~Thomas Szasz
RELATIVSIM, NO RIGHT OR WRONG, DIVERSITY
If you want to look like the people next door, you're probably smothering yourself and your dreams. ~Clive Barker
How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. ~Alfred de Musset
GLORY, GREATNESS, PAIN
Orthodoxy: That peculiar condition where the patient can neither eliminate an old idea nor absorb a new one. ~Elbert Hubbard, The Note-Book, 1927
If you do not agree with the prevalent point of view, be ready to explain why. ~Martin H. Fischer
The fatal tendency of mankind to leave off thinking about a thing when it is no longer doubtful, is the cause of half their errors. ~John Stuart Mill
We submit to the majority because we have to. But we are not compelled to call our attitude of subjection a posture of respect. ~Ambrose Bierce, Epigrams
NO CHOICE BUT CONFORM
Mental slavery is mental death, and every man who has given up his intellectual freedom is the living coffin of his dead soul. ~Robert Ingersoll, Individuality
NOT TRUE TO YOURSELF
Here in America we are descended in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower, address, Columbia University, 31 May 1954
Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking. ~Alfred North Whitehead
I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them? ~Leo Durocher
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. ~Albert Einstein
Never assume the obvious is true. ~William Safire, Sleeper Spy
QUESTION
We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which we call our principles. ~Mark Twain
Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul. ~Mark Twain
History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads. People get the history they deserve. ~Charles de Gaulle
Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment. ~Seneca
I don't necessarily agree with everything I say. ~Marshall McLuhan
They will say that you are on the wrong road, if it is your own. ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
NO RIGHT OR WRONG, BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive - a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence. The good, say the mystics of muscle, is Society - a thing which they define as an organism that possesses no physical form, a super-being embodied in no one in particular and everyone in general except yourself.... The purpose of man's life, say both, is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question. ~Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957 (Thanks, Mary)
Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
PREDICTABILITY, SAFETY
History is particularly important in throwing light on the source of our attitudes about sex because many of the assumptions we make are not necessarily scientific or rational but holdovers of past belief systems that are no longer held by modern society. ~Vern Bullough
If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standards of nonconformity. ~Bill Vaughan
Men will sooner surrender their rights than their customs. ~Moritz Guedemann
I try not to break the rules, but merely to test their elasticity. ~Bill Veeck
If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. ~Katherine Hepburn
INTERESSTING
To be a genuine individualist requires a great deal of strength and courage. It is never easy to chart new territory, to cross new frontiers, or to introduce subtle shadings to an established color. ~Toller Cranston
BRAVE
My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others! My manner of thinking stems straight from my considered reflections; it holds with my existence, with the way I am made. It is not in my power to alter it; and were it, I'd not do so. ~Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade
When some folks agree with my opinions I begin to suspect I'm wrong. ~Kin Hubbard
Custom meets us at the cradle and leaves us only at the tomb. ~Robert Ingersoll, Individuality
If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it. ~S.I. Hayakawa
You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh because you are all the same. ~Daniel Knode
The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered. ~Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912
Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead. ~Aldous Huxley
Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago. ~Bernard Berenson, Notebook, 1892
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well. ~Foe Ancis
EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT
Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new. ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~George Bernard Shaw
My uncle ordered popovers
from the restaurant's bill of fare.
And, when they were served,
he regarded them with a penetrating stare.
Then he spoke great words of wisdom
as he sat there on that chair:
"To eat these things," said my uncle,
"You must exercise great care.
You may swallow down what's solid,
but you must spit out the air!"
And as you partake of the world's bill of fare,
that's darned good advice to follow.
Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.
And be careful what you swallow.
~Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), from a commencement address
What makes you think that human beings are sentient and aware? There's no evidence for it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their "beliefs." The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is a self-congratulatory delusion. ~Michael Crichton, The Lost World
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was. ~Margaret Mitchell
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip, and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow. ~Charlie Brower
I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages. ~William H. Mauldin
All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. ~Paul Simon
BRAVERY?
Men get opinions as boys learn to spell,
By reiteration chiefly.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, 1856
ADULT
False opinions are like false money, struck first of all by guilty men and thereafter circulated by honest people who perpetuate the crime without knowing what they are doing. ~Joseph De Maistre
From now on, I'll connect the dots my own way. ~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes
INDEPENDENT
I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond of goldfish. ~Dame Edith Sitwell
TRUE TO YOURSELF
I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. ~Lillian Hellman
Page Information:
www.quotegarden.com/conformity.html
Last modified 2007 Sep 05 Wed 17:55 PDT
Site Navigation Home Page Send This Page Site Information
Web quotegarden.com
Next Friday, Saturday & Sunday is the Dragon Boat Festival
On this day Chinese people eat green triangles
with rice inside and a sweet substance
the rice is wrapped in thick green leaves (leaves from banana trees???)
The story behind this festival is this....
In ancient times there was a poet who killed himself by throwing
himself into the river
It was believed that there was a dragon who lived in this river
People were worried he will be eaten by the dragon
So they threw in the zongzi (little triangles of rice)
so the dragon would be full and not eat him
YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT CONFORMITY IS A GOOD THING IN CHINA
I CAN SEE MANY GOOD THINGS IN CONFORMITY
(BAD TOO)
AS A WESTERNER I VALUE NON-CONFORMITY
CONFORMING TO WESTERN VALUES I VALUE NON-CONFORMITY
ANYWAY HERE IS SOME VIEW ON WHY CONFORMITY IS SEEN AS GOOD OR BAD
CONFORMITY/ NON-CONFORMITY AS GOOD / BAD
ON CONFORMITY as bad
Conformity is generally seen as a bad thing in Western countries.
Why?
If you conform you
* lack originality
which means you cannot create any new ides, society cannot progress or evolve
which means you don't have a self
in the west it is important to distinguish yourself as separate from others
to show you have a self
* people don't know
people don't know what you truly think, if you just parrot a religion or what everyone says
people think you have no personality
* power imbalance
westerners thinks that conformity occurs when there is a power imbalance
with the most powerful class setting the standard and everyone has to go
along with this -- even if it is harmful to you
maybe it will only benefit the most powerful group
* boring
westerners find it boring if everyone is the same
too predictable
* childish
it is seen as childish and weak.
it is seen as unintelligent because if you were intelligent you would have your own ideas
it is seen as uninteresting if you were interesting you would say something new or different
if you were strong, you would be strong enough to tell your true feelings despite others disaproval
* sacrifice
people in the west feel sorry for people who conform
because they feel like the "real them" is in there but cannot be shown
westerners see this as painful
the idea of not being able to be yourself
being yourself means -- be able to do and say what is honestly in your heart
* not real love
In the west we believe that there are differences between people
and true loves acepts others despite these differences
maybe you want your child to be a musician
but the child wants to be a sports star
the parent that truly loves his child would love them
unconditionally ----- that is without conditions, without 要求
because they want there child to be 'true to himself'
CONFORMITY AS GOOD
SAFETY
things are very safe with conformity. you know what everyone is going to do.
what is expected, you don't have to think too much. and you
don't know anything but conformity you don't think you are
missing out on your 'true self'. your true self is embedded in your
relationships with others.
you are not thinking "if only I could do X" or "say X" because
you have absorbed the culture so much that you never think
about doing x, or saying x. that thought has not crossed your mind
because you have totally observed the group values.
EASIER
it is easier. everyone gets along well.
everyone is doing the same thing.
for example. you want to get married and have kids by 27.
so does everyone else in the society.
whereas in the west there are 20 choices
eg. marry/not marry, kids/no kids, marry between 18 -99,
have kids between 13 -42, divorce, not marry have kids, celibate,
live together, don't etc. gay/straight. sex before/after marriage etc
so not only do westerners have SO many choices.
when you love someone maybe they DON"t want the same thing.
she wants to marry, he doesn't, he wants kids, she doesn't
also you are supposed to finish uni in your 20s.
post grad courses in Aus are full of people from the age of 24 -78yo
lots of 40yo finally make time to do their Phd.
so westerners have to alway think "what will I do this year? move to Italy, do a Phd, change careers?"
where in China you don't have those decisions to contend with. because
people will think you are weird.
You don't have to ponder the meaning of life.
In every choice one has to make
It forces one to reeaxmine their values.
What is the most important thing in life?
Is it enjoyment? money? time? family?
etc
really have to think "What do I really want?"
weighing up all the options makes many people
look towards philosophy, psychology, spirituality,
different advice from friends, new age , fortune tellers.
It does make you think "who am I?"
what do I want my life to be like.
Then you realise there is no right or wrong.
it can lead to an existential crisis.
In China there is a ready made value system
telling you what everyone wants from their life
and what is important.
So YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT IS IMPORTANT
which saves a lot of time and energy
and maybe in the West sometimes you regret your choices
BELONGING
you feel the sense of belonging and harmony with other people
CARING FOR OTHERS
showing that you follow your parents values makes them happy
you care for the other people and your family in society
you don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable
so you maybe curb your thoughts and behaviour for the good of the whole
REAL LOVE
you love other people more than yourself
you think of others first
so don't bring up radically different ideas
or behave in a radically different way
(do people really want to do this anyway
are we just taught in the west that there is
a 'real me' longing to get out and express itself?)
NON-CONFORMITY AS GOOD
CHOICE
non conformity means people can choose their religion,
what they wear, what they say or write, when they do things,
how they do things --- without others stopping them
of course in the West we have to curb our choices
if we share a house we need to share with people who
have similar values. ie like to play loud music
westerners believe that if you are not hurting anyone then it is okay.
If a man wears a dress. In Australia that man will probably get bashed
and suffer discrimination. People will stare etc. There is conformity.
However, educated people would argue that it is okay for a man to wear
a dress. They would say "it is not hurting anyone else". They would argue that
in Scotland men wear skirts and through history men wore skirts.
That while in current time men usually don't this could always change
as things always change through history.
Anyway in the west we believe in freedom of choice.
"It is your choice"
"It is his choice"
"It is your life do what you want with it"
"As long as your are not hurting anyone, do what you like"
"It's my life, I will do what I see fit"
"It is none of your business what other people do"
"Who are you to judge?"
"Who died and made you God"
"Free to be me"
CREATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC INVENTION
people used to think the world was flat.
everyone just went along and agreed with this.
until someone thought for themself
did not just copy but started to think "is that true"
questioned, and made a discovery of what was actually the case
If we just parrot what other people say
we never grow or find anything new.
so there is much evolution in the West.
new technology, fashion
people do and say diverse things
and this is encouraged
and sometimes
fashion, technology, science, art, literature is transformed
In Western education we are encouraged to be creative.
It is not about getting things "right" or "wrong"
It is about trying. It is about thinking.
We are told "Don't believe everything teachers, text books or authorities tell you"
Decide for yourself.
This was resisted in art at first.
INTELLIGENCE
see above. memory is not enough
to be considered intelligent in the west
you have to think of new ideas
and be able to think things in depth
INTERESTING
We believe non conformity makes life interesting
We like surprises. Meeting someone who totally changes the way
we think. Seeing a film that really opens our eyes.
Being engaged in debate or disagreement.
Having choices so life is not predictable.
Meeting people who are totally different
language, culture, lifestyle and finding things in common
and learning about what is different.
People who are very much non conformers
are seen as entertaining, interesting, quirky
unusual, artistic
and they are usually liked (in big cities)
HAPPINESS
we believe people who conform are generally unhappy
we think of the real them trapped inside their body
but unable to be real in the outside world
BRAVE
we see non-conformists as brave.
there are many stories of people who lived a lie
for years. not being there TRUE self
just did what their parents wanted
then got the courage to be real
and how some people did not accept them
and some people did (THEIR TRUE FRIENDS ACCEPTED THEM)
or people did not at first accept them, but then they began to understand
LEADERS
are leaders, not followers,
set the trends
people copy them
not them copying others
ground breaking innovators
ADULT
showing that you can make your own decisions shows you are
an adult
not a little kid that has to ask mummy what you are allowed or not allowed to do
not someone who has to get permission but a fully functioning
who relies on themself not on parents and others
POLITICAL
NON CONFORMITY AS BAD
BETRAYING SOCIETY AND YOUR PARENTS
why you don't conform your parents feel sad
they are worried what other people think
and society thinks you don't care about other people
IMMATURE
some westerners see non-conformers as immature
attention seekers, who will get over it when they grow up
(i think this sometimes)
they also note many non conformers conform to a
small subculture like Gothics
which are very conformist in their non conformity
WASTE TIME AND MONEY
people who don't conform in fashion way.
like punks or goths or something spend so
much money being 'non conformist"
or painting your car with dots or something
that people think "why bother if it takes SO much effort to not conform"
ARGUMENTATIVE/ANGRY
some people have ideas radically different to the group
these people are seen as trouble makers
the "angry young man" thing
people wonder if they really care so much
about rights or if they just want to make trouble
HARD TO UNDERSTAND?
some people are very happy to follow the mainstream
want to get married, be rich, shop, have children,
be a typical woman/man etc. this is what they prefer?
so they don't understand non-conformists at all
Why do they have to xxxxx?
Why do they xxxxx?"
they just look others sideways, screw up their face
then shrug their shoulders, they think non conformers are laughable
RELIGIOUS
you should have faith in God
RELIANT ON AUTHORITY/ILLOGICAL THINKING/TRADITION
x said it was right so it must be right
this is the way we have always done it, so it must be right
at first I started sorting them into groups but gave up, too time consuming.
for first 20 or so are grouped,
the other ones are not
CONFORMITY
GOOD/NEUTRAL
birds of a feather flock together
don't cut of you toe to spite your face
Follow the well beaten path
We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it. ~Charles Dudley Warner
CONFORMITY
BAD
everyone is jumping someone elses train (copying)
you find you lived your life for people who did not like then and do not like you now (sacrifice)
It is crazy to see people be what society wants them to be - but not me
You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. ~Doug Floyd The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself. ~Rita Mae Brown, Venus Envy A "Normal" person is the sort of person that might be designed by a committee. You know, "Each person puts in a pretty color and it comes out gray." ~Alan Sherman
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. ~Winston Churchill Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road. ~Voltaire The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking. ~J.K. Galbraith
NON-CONFORMITY
GOOD
why be normal?
Think for yourself
Don't just read out of a text book
Oh that's original (when someone says something someone else thinks)
Be yourself
Free to be me
The Road Less Traveled
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
TRUE TO YOURSELF, INTERESTING
Nature made us individuals, as she did the flowers and the pebbles; but we are afraid to be peculiar, and so our society resembles a bag of marbles, or a string of mold candles. Why should we all dress after the same fashion? The frost never paints my windows twice alike. ~Lydia Maria Child
NATURAL AND BEAUTIFUL
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
INNOVATION
NON-CONFORMITY
BAD
NON GROUPED ONES
CONFORMITY QUOTES
Welcome to The Quote Garden!
Every society honors its live conformists, and its dead troublemakers. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
INNOVATION
Don't think you're on the right road just because it’s a well-beaten path. ~Author Unknown
NO RIGHT OR WRONG
Most people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions. ~Author Unknown
INNOVATION
Stubborness does have its helpful features. You always know what you are going to be thinking tomorrow. ~Glen Beaman
INTELLIGENCE
Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity. ~Christopher Morley
???
You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. ~Doug Floyd
INTEREST
The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself. ~Rita Mae Brown, Venus Envy
TRUE TO YOURSELF
A "Normal" person is the sort of person that might be designed by a committee. You know, "Each person puts in a pretty color and it comes out gray." ~Alan Sherman
UNINTERESTING
Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people. ~Martina Navratilova
The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain. ~Colin
Wilson
UNHAPPINESS/UNINTERESTING
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary. ~Albert Einstein
INNOVATION/GREATNESS
In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. ~Bertrand Russell
INNOVATION
Not all those who wander are lost. ~J.R.R. Tolkien
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. ~Winston Churchill
BRAVE
We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it. ~Charles Dudley Warner
Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road. ~Voltaire
BRAVE
The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking. ~J.K. Galbraith
BRAVE/INTELLIGENT
The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them. ~George Bernard Shaw
SCIENTIFIC REALITY
What this country needs is radicals who will stay that way regardless of the creeping years. ~John Fischer
With the pride of the artist, you must blow against the walls of every power that exists the small trumpet of your defiance. ~Norman Mailer
BRAVE
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. ~Mark Twain
THE MAJORITY IS GENERALLY UNTHINKING, AND USUALLY WRONG
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
BRAVE
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. ~John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
LOGIC
Doubt is healthy. It tests one's convictions. ~From the movie Haunted
Before you can break out of prison, you must first realize you're locked up. ~Author Unknown
FREEDOM
Ain't no man can avoid being average, but there ain't no man got to be common. ~Satchel Paige
One who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints. ~Proverb
LACK OF INNOVATION
Be neither a conformist or a rebel, for they are really the same thing. Find your own path, and stay on it. ~Paul Vixie
BALANCE
I may not be different, but I'm definitely not the same. ~William J. Dybus
BALANCE
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. ~Herman Melville
INNOVATION, TRYING, MAKING YOUR MARK
We need - and should encourage and honour - not only discoverers of facts hitherto unknown but explorers of ideas and rethinkers of values. ~Walter Moberly, The Crisis in the University
If you don't control your mind, someone else will. ~John Allston
FREEDOM
In the moment of our creation we receive the stamp of our individuality; and much of life is spent in rubbing off or defacing the impression. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
NATURE
Be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out. ~Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
HA HA
To be dragged in the wake of the passive flock and to pass a hundred and one times beneath the shears of the shepherd, or to die alone like a brave eagle on a rocky crag of a great mountain: that is the dilemma. ~Praxedis Guerrero, RegeneraciÓn, 18 February 1911
HA HA GREATNESS, OR MEDIOCRE
I guess I've spent my life listening to what wasn't being said. ~Eli Khamarov, America Explained!
Human beings, for all their pretensions, have a remarkable propensity for lending themselves to classification somewhere within neatly labeled categories. Even the outrageous exceptions may be classified as outrageous exceptions! ~W.J. Reichmann
I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. ~Wilson Mizner
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. ~Eric Hoffer, Passionate State of Mind, 1955
CONFORMITY IS NATURAL
If you keep doing things like you've always done them, what you'll get is what you've already got. ~Author Unknown
LACK OF INNOVATION
When I was four years old they tried to test my IQ, they showed me this picture of three oranges and a pear. They asked me which one is different and does not belong, they taught me different was wrong. ~Ani Difranco
NO RIGHT OR WRONG
Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity; and fashion will drive them to acquire any custom. ~George Bernard Shaw
What we call human nature in actuality is human habit. ~Jewel Kilcher, Pieces of You
CONFORMITY UNNATURAL
It's a rash man who reaches a conclusion before he gets to it. ~Jacob Levin
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. ~Clarence Darrow
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature. ~George Bernard Shaw
CONFORMITY IS NOT NATURAL
Never accept the proposition that just because a solution satisfies a problem, that it must be the only solution. ~Raymond E. Feist
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. ~Friedrich Nietzsche, The Dawn, 1881
Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don't practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us - and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along. ~Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
My theory is that the hardest work anyone does in life is to appear normal. ~From the movie Ed TV
BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF, EVERYONE IS DIVERSE
I don't rent space to anyone in my head. ~Anonymous man on Candid Camera, answering Allen Funt's question about why he had not gotten upset
Only dead fish swim with the stream. ~Malcolm Muggeridge
UNTHINKING PEOPLE CONFORM
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~G.B. Shaw, Man and Superman, 1903
INNOVATION, PROGRESS
Just because something is tradition doesn't make it right. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book
NO RIGHT OR WRONG
And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps. ~H.L. Mencken
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. ~Alexander Hamilton
I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. ~Fritz Perls
FREEDOM NOT JUDGE
One dog barks at something, and a hundred bark at the bark. ~Chinese Proverb
Common experience shows how much rarer is moral courage than physical bravery. A thousand men will march to the mouth of the cannon where one man will dare espouse an unpopular cause. ~Clarence Darrow, Resist Not Evil
BRAVERY
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. ~Anatole France
CONSENSUS DOES NOT EQUAL TRUTH
Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are. ~Quentin Crisp
NOT BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF
Heresies are experiments in man's unsatisfied search for truth. ~H.G. Wells, Crux Ansata
Fashion is more powerful than any tyrant. ~Latin Proverb
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it - even if I have said it - unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. ~Buddha
DON'T RELY ON AUTHORITY
All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. ~Adlai Stevenson, speech, Princeton, 1954
INNOVATION
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. ~Juan Ramon Jimenez
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds.
~Bob Marley
RELY ON SELF
The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by other people's rules, while quietly playing by your own. ~Michael Korda
SECRETYLY DON'T CONFORM, BUT APPEAR AS IF YOU ARE
I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. ~John Cage
INNOVATION
You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men. ~Max Beerbohm
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. ~Albert Camus
No man can cause more grief than that one clinging blindly to the vices of his ancestors. ~William Faulkner
No. ~President Jimmy Carter's daughter Amy, when asked if she had any message for the children of America
People still retain the errors of their childhood, their nation, and their age, long after they have accepted the truths needed to refute them. ~Condorcet, Progress of the Human Mind, 1794
I believe more follies are committed out of complaisance to the world, than in following our own inclinations. ~Mary Wortley Montagu
CONSCIENCE
The eager and often inconsiderate appeals of reformers and revolutionists are indispensable to counterbalance the inertia and fossilism marking so large a part of human institutions. ~Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas, 1871
The number of those who undergo the fatigue of judging for themselves is very small indeed. ~Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Critic, 1799
IT IS TIRING TO THINK, EASIER TO CONFORM
There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and willfully go wrong for fear of being controlled. ~La Bruyère, Characters, 1688
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance," 1841
SELF RELIANCE, GREATNESS
The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way." ~Grace Hopper
A lawyer's brief will be brief, before a freethinker thinks freely. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
FREETHINKERS ARE FAKES WHO JUST CLAIM TO THINK FREELY
Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs. ~Robert Peel
The marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading "Keep Off." ~Carl Sandburg
Habit rules the unreflecting herd. ~William Wordsworth, Ecclesiastical Sonnets, 1822
STUPIDITY IN CONFORMITY
The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them. ~Albert Einstein, letter to Sigmund Freud, 30 July 1932
NO FREEDOM, BEING CONTROLLED
The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone. ~Henrik Ibsen
BRAVERY
If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking. ~George S. Patton
Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield. ~Aesop, "The Man and His Two Wives," Fables
WEAKNESS IN CONFORMITY
Conformity is that jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. ~John F. Kennedy
LACK OF INNOVATION, FREEDOM
Our concern must be to live while we're alive... to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are. ~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
BEING TRUE TO ONESELF
Every man is a reformer until reform tramps on his toes. ~Edgar Watson Howe, Country Town Sayings, 1911
Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our fathers have done them or that our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a larger part than we suspect of what we think. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. ~Vincent Van Gogh
I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to control and bias my mind, and did not suffer from the general belief that whatever is, is right. ~Henry Bessemer (discovered new method of producing steel)
If you believe everything you read, you better not read. ~Japanese Proverb
FIND YOUR OWN TRUTH
I merely observe that all living things are manipulated. As long as there is a will, it is bent and twisted constantly. Only the dead are allowed the luxury of freedom, and then only because they want nothing, and therefore can't be thwarted. ~Orson Scott Card
You cannot be both fashionable and first-rate. ~Logan Pearsall Smith
GREATNESSS IN NON CONFORMITY
One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea. ~Walter Bagehot
HUMAN NATURE DOESN'T LIKE CHANGE
Public opinion... requires us to think other men's thoughts, to speak other men's words, to follow other men's habits. ~Walter Bagehot, Biographical Studies, 1907
Unless one decorates one's house for oneself alone, best leave it bare, for other people are walleyed. ~D.H. Lawrence
We begin life with the world presenting itself to us as it is. Someone - our parents, teachers, analysts - hypnotizes us to "see" the world and construe it in the "right" way. These others label the world, attach names and give voices to the beings and events in it, so that thereafter, we cannot read the world in any other language or hear it saying other things to us. The task is to break the hypnotic spell, so that we become undeaf, unblind and multilingual, thereby letting the world speak to us in new voices and write all its possible meanings in the new book of our existence. Be careful in your choice of hypnotists. ~Sidney Jourard
RELATIVISM, THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG,
I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side - I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts. ~Bethania McKenstry
LOGIC
But it is just when opinions universally prevail and we have added lip service to their authority that we become sometimes most keenly conscious that we do not believe a word that we are saying. ~Virginia Woolf
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. ~Jonathan Swift
PEOPLE DON'T LIKE NEW IDEAS
Every man who is truly a man must learn to be alone in the midst of all the others, and if need be against all the others. ~Romain Rolland
GREATNESS, TRUE TO YOURSELF, BEING AN ADULT
Minorities are the stars of the firmament; majorities, the darkness in which they float. ~Martin H. Fischer
And who can doubt that it will lead to the worst disorders when minds created free by God are compelled to submit slavishly to an outside will? When we are told to deny our senses and subject them to the will of others? ~Galileo Galilei
Man is a gregarious animal, and much more so in his mind than in his body. He may like to go alone for a walk, but he hates to stand alone in his opinions. ~George Santayana
BELONGING TO SOCIETY
We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent. ~Abraham Flexner, Universities, 1930
At the bottom of a good deal of bravery... lurks a miserable cowardice. Men will face powder and steel because they cannot face public opinion. ~E.H. Chapin
BRAVERY
The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism, monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political, sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to man: members of his own species, bent on ensuring his salvation, security, and sanity. ~Thomas Szasz
RELATIVSIM, NO RIGHT OR WRONG, DIVERSITY
If you want to look like the people next door, you're probably smothering yourself and your dreams. ~Clive Barker
How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. ~Alfred de Musset
GLORY, GREATNESS, PAIN
Orthodoxy: That peculiar condition where the patient can neither eliminate an old idea nor absorb a new one. ~Elbert Hubbard, The Note-Book, 1927
If you do not agree with the prevalent point of view, be ready to explain why. ~Martin H. Fischer
The fatal tendency of mankind to leave off thinking about a thing when it is no longer doubtful, is the cause of half their errors. ~John Stuart Mill
We submit to the majority because we have to. But we are not compelled to call our attitude of subjection a posture of respect. ~Ambrose Bierce, Epigrams
NO CHOICE BUT CONFORM
Mental slavery is mental death, and every man who has given up his intellectual freedom is the living coffin of his dead soul. ~Robert Ingersoll, Individuality
NOT TRUE TO YOURSELF
Here in America we are descended in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower, address, Columbia University, 31 May 1954
Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking. ~Alfred North Whitehead
I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them? ~Leo Durocher
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. ~Albert Einstein
Never assume the obvious is true. ~William Safire, Sleeper Spy
QUESTION
We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which we call our principles. ~Mark Twain
Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul. ~Mark Twain
History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads. People get the history they deserve. ~Charles de Gaulle
Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment. ~Seneca
I don't necessarily agree with everything I say. ~Marshall McLuhan
They will say that you are on the wrong road, if it is your own. ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
NO RIGHT OR WRONG, BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive - a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence. The good, say the mystics of muscle, is Society - a thing which they define as an organism that possesses no physical form, a super-being embodied in no one in particular and everyone in general except yourself.... The purpose of man's life, say both, is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question. ~Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957 (Thanks, Mary)
Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
PREDICTABILITY, SAFETY
History is particularly important in throwing light on the source of our attitudes about sex because many of the assumptions we make are not necessarily scientific or rational but holdovers of past belief systems that are no longer held by modern society. ~Vern Bullough
If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standards of nonconformity. ~Bill Vaughan
Men will sooner surrender their rights than their customs. ~Moritz Guedemann
I try not to break the rules, but merely to test their elasticity. ~Bill Veeck
If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. ~Katherine Hepburn
INTERESSTING
To be a genuine individualist requires a great deal of strength and courage. It is never easy to chart new territory, to cross new frontiers, or to introduce subtle shadings to an established color. ~Toller Cranston
BRAVE
My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others! My manner of thinking stems straight from my considered reflections; it holds with my existence, with the way I am made. It is not in my power to alter it; and were it, I'd not do so. ~Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade
When some folks agree with my opinions I begin to suspect I'm wrong. ~Kin Hubbard
Custom meets us at the cradle and leaves us only at the tomb. ~Robert Ingersoll, Individuality
If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it. ~S.I. Hayakawa
You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh because you are all the same. ~Daniel Knode
The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered. ~Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912
Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead. ~Aldous Huxley
Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago. ~Bernard Berenson, Notebook, 1892
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well. ~Foe Ancis
EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT
Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new. ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~George Bernard Shaw
My uncle ordered popovers
from the restaurant's bill of fare.
And, when they were served,
he regarded them with a penetrating stare.
Then he spoke great words of wisdom
as he sat there on that chair:
"To eat these things," said my uncle,
"You must exercise great care.
You may swallow down what's solid,
but you must spit out the air!"
And as you partake of the world's bill of fare,
that's darned good advice to follow.
Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.
And be careful what you swallow.
~Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), from a commencement address
What makes you think that human beings are sentient and aware? There's no evidence for it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their "beliefs." The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is a self-congratulatory delusion. ~Michael Crichton, The Lost World
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was. ~Margaret Mitchell
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip, and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow. ~Charlie Brower
I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages. ~William H. Mauldin
All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. ~Paul Simon
BRAVERY?
Men get opinions as boys learn to spell,
By reiteration chiefly.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, 1856
ADULT
False opinions are like false money, struck first of all by guilty men and thereafter circulated by honest people who perpetuate the crime without knowing what they are doing. ~Joseph De Maistre
From now on, I'll connect the dots my own way. ~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes
INDEPENDENT
I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond of goldfish. ~Dame Edith Sitwell
TRUE TO YOURSELF
I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. ~Lillian Hellman
Page Information:
www.quotegarden.com/conformity.html
Last modified 2007 Sep 05 Wed 17:55 PDT
Site Navigation Home Page Send This Page Site Information
Web quotegarden.com
Next Friday, Saturday & Sunday is the Dragon Boat Festival
On this day Chinese people eat green triangles
with rice inside and a sweet substance
the rice is wrapped in thick green leaves (leaves from banana trees???)
The story behind this festival is this....
In ancient times there was a poet who killed himself by throwing
himself into the river
It was believed that there was a dragon who lived in this river
People were worried he will be eaten by the dragon
So they threw in the zongzi (little triangles of rice)
so the dragon would be full and not eat him
2008 May
19 may 2008
At dinner a teacher said
"Our government is the best in the world, do you think so?"
I said "I don't know, I don't much about them"
(which is true)
then I said ummm " they responded very well to Sichuan" (the earthquake in May 08)
I know his brother lives in Sichuan so I asked how he is.
He said his brother is helping people.
His brother is in the Peoples Liberation Army.
Today in class I was teaching the word "Province" (which no one ever remembers)
and we listed provinces and cities. etc
talked about countries
Which countries are near Australia?
Which countries are near China?
the students responses were
Korea, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong
I said "Taiwan is a province!!!!!"
they said "no it is a country"
I said "no, it is a province"
I said "Hong Kong is IN China not near it"
anyway, weird
Oh and a friend the other day
we were talking about population
he said during Mao's time
Mao said that "we have to defeat America, we need more people"
and so woman who had many sons were "HERO MOTHERS"
apparently an economist at Beijing University questioned
this logic
saying China will suffer economically with a large population and be weakened
but Chairman Mao said "you are wrong!"
oh and one day I asked students different, same (Australia and China)
they could think of MANY ways they are different
and very few ways they are the same
COPIED FROM ..
http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/proverbs/k.html
No banquet in the world that never ends.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tian1xia4 mei2you3 bu4 san4 de yan4xi2.)
Nothing in the world is eternal. Friendship, relations and a good time are no exceptions
Crows everywhere are equally black.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tian1xia4 wu1ya1 yi1ban1 hei1.)
It is a metaphorical statement of "Bad people are bad no matter where you find them because human nature never changes".
Perseverance can reduce an iron rod to a sewing needle.
(Chinese original: é“æµç£¨æˆé’ˆChinese Pinyin: Tie3 chu3 mo2 cheng2 zhen1.)
See the story in my book The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese.
Dream different dreams on the same bed.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tong2 chuang2 yi4 meng4.)
Hide different purposes behind the semblance of accord.
A life with love is happy; a life for love is foolish.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Sheng1huo2 you3 ai4 xing4fu2, wei4 ai4 sheng1huo2 yu2chun3.)
A person moves up while water runs down.
(Chinese original: 人往高处走，水往低处æµChinese Pinyin: Ren2 wang3 gao1 chu4 zou3, shui3 wang3 di1 chu4 liu2.)
One should never give up efforts to improve oneself, whether morally or financially.
A man's greed is like a snake that wants to swallow an elephant.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ren2 xin1 bu4 zu2 she2 tun1 xiang4.)
You can never tell what one really thinks. Sincerity shows through one's actions rather than words and appearance.
A man's heart is indiscernible behind his chest.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ren2 xin1 ge2 du4 pi2.)
(A similar proverb: You may know someone by his appearance, but you may never know what he thinks. : Zhi1 ren2 zhi1 mian4 bu4 zhi1 xin1.)
You can never tell what one really thinks. Sincerity shows through one's actions rather than words and appearance.
Learn from other's strong points to offset one's shortcomings.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Qu3 chang2 bu3 duan3.)
The lotus root may be severed, but its fibered threads are still connected.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ou3 duan4 si1 lian2.)
Something apparently severed but actually connected, such as a human relationship."
A dragon will be teased by a shrimp in a shoal water; a tiger will be bullied by a dog on a treeless plain.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Long2 you2 qian3 shui3 zao1 xia1 xi4, hu3 luo4 ping2 yang2 bei4 quan3 qi1.)
(A similar proverb: A mighty dragon cannot subdue a local snake. : Qiang2 long2 bu1 an4 di4 tou2 she2.)
One thrives in his or her own territory. An able person in an adverse environment cannot bring his talent into full play. Instead, he or she may become an underdog of a less able person who has been in that environment for a long time with a lot of connections.
Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage.
(Chinese original: 萝卜白菜，各有所爱 Chinese Pinyin: Luo2bo1 bai2cai4, ge4 you3 suo3 ai4.)
"One man's meat is another's poison". People's preferences differ.
t is better to start weaving your fishing nets than merely coveting fish at the water.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Lin2 yuan1 mu4 yu2, bu4 ru2 tui4 er3 jie2 wang3.)
One should act than daydream.
Thunder is louder than the little rain warrants.
(Chinese original: 雷声大，雨点小 Chinese Pinyin: Lei2 sheng1 da4, yu3 dian3 xiao3.)
More words than action.
He who stays near vermilion gets stained red; he who stays near ink gets stained black.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Jin4 zhu1 zhe3 chi4, jin4 mo4 zhe3 hei1.)
One takes on the color of his company.
Harmony makes both a family and a nation prosperous.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Jia1 he2 ri4zi4 wang4; guo2 he2 wan4 shi4 xing1.)
Pick up a sesame seed only to lose a watermelon.
(Chinese original: 捡了芝麻丢了西瓜 Chinese Pinyin: Jian3 le zhi1ma2, diu1 le xi1gua1.)
Concentrate on small matters to the expense of more important ones.
Aged ginger is more pungent.
(Chinese original: 姜是老的辣Chinese Pinyin: Jiang1 shi4 lao3de la4.)
Elderly people are more experienced.
A friend made is a road paved; an enemy created is a wall built.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Jiao1 ge4 peng2you3 duo1 tiao2 lu4, shu4 ge4 di2ren2 duo1 du3 qiang2.)
How true: friends help while people you offend may turn out to be your liability. We should make more friends than enemies.
A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den.
(Chinese original: 狡兔三窟Chinese Pinyin: Jiao3 tu4 san1 ku1.)
To succeed one must have several alternatives.
A fragrant bloom is not necessarily a beautiful flower; an orator may not be a crackerjack.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Hua1 xiang1 bu4 yi2ding4 mei3li4, neng2 shuo1 bu4 yi2ding4 hui4 zuo4.)
Action is better than oration.
Draw a cake to satisfy one's hunger.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Hua4 bing3 chong1 ji1.)
An unrealistic solution to a problem serves no other purpose than self deception.
Swallow a date with its stone.
(Chinese original: 囫囵吞枣Chinese Pinyin: Hu2lun2 tun1 zao3.)
When someone does this, he is said to read without understanding.
Vicious as a tigress can be, she never eats her own cubs.
(Chinese original: 虎毒不食子 Chinese Pinyin: Hu3 du2 bu4 shi2 zi3.)
Those parents who hurt their children are worse than beasts of prey.
A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pin yin: He4 li4 ji1qun2.)
A crane is too obvious when it stands among a flock of chickens and looks very awkward. It is also true with a camel amidst a flock of sheep and a flea when it stands on top of a hairless head. They all carry a pejorative tone: the thing that out stands others is something awkward if not necessarily bad.
A honeyed mouth hides a daggered heart.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Kou3 mi4 fu4 jian4.)
Beware of this "kiss of death."
Love my house, love the crow on it.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ai4 wu1 ji2 wu1.)
The crow may be ugly, but love it if your really love my house. A close English counterpart of this proverb is "Love me, love my dog."You can't tell the cost of food and fuel without
YOU cant tell the cost of being the head of a household; you can't appreciate the love of your parents without having children of your own.
(Chinese original: 不当家不知柴米贵，不养儿不知父母恩 Chinese Pinyin: Bu4 dang1jia1 bu4 zhi1 chai2 mi3 gui4, bu4 yang3 er2 bu4 zhi1 fu4mu3 en1.)
Drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dig it.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Chi1 shui3 bu1 wang4 jue1 jing3 ren2.)
One should always be grateful to those who helped him succeed.
If the lips are gone, the teeth will grow cold.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Chun2 wang2 chi3 han2.)
Two parties share a common interest. If one is hurt, the other will, too.
Respect out of fear is never genuine; reverence out of respect is never false.
(Chinese original: 打怕的人是假的，敬怕的人是真的 Chinese Pinyin: Da3 pa4 de ren2 shi4 jia3 de; jing4 pa4 de ren2 shi4 zhen1 de.)
Don't mention the word "dwarf" in front of a short person.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Dang1 zhe ai3ren2 bie2 shuo1 ai3 hua4.)
Mentioning a person's shortcomings will hurt his feelings. One needs to be tactful or diplomatic when communicating with others.
A mountain of knives and a sea of fire.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Dao1 shan1 huo3 hai3.)
Extremely difficulty and dangerous situation.
Dripping water can eat through a stone.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Di1 shui3 chuan1 shi2.)
Perseverance will lead to success.
A single tree makes no forest; one string makes no music.
(Chinese original: 独木不成林，单弦不成音 Chinese Pinyin: Du2 mu4 bu4 cheng2 lin2, dan1 xian2 bu4 cheng2 yin1.)
This proverb illustrates the significance of team work
Prescribe the right medicine for a symptom.
(Chinese original: 对症下药Chinese Pinyin: Dui4 zheng4 xia4 yao4.)
Take the right measures to tackle a problem to achieve the best result.
On the same boat in a tempest.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Feng1 yu3 tong2 zhou1.)
Going through hardships together.
You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane are as sweet.
(Chinese original: 甘蔗没有两头甜 Chinese Pinyin: Gan1zhe4 mei2you3 liang3tou2 tian2.)
You can't have both: In order to get something, you have to sacrifice something else.
At dinner a teacher said
"Our government is the best in the world, do you think so?"
I said "I don't know, I don't much about them"
(which is true)
then I said ummm " they responded very well to Sichuan" (the earthquake in May 08)
I know his brother lives in Sichuan so I asked how he is.
He said his brother is helping people.
His brother is in the Peoples Liberation Army.
Today in class I was teaching the word "Province" (which no one ever remembers)
and we listed provinces and cities. etc
talked about countries
Which countries are near Australia?
Which countries are near China?
the students responses were
Korea, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong
I said "Taiwan is a province!!!!!"
they said "no it is a country"
I said "no, it is a province"
I said "Hong Kong is IN China not near it"
anyway, weird
Oh and a friend the other day
we were talking about population
he said during Mao's time
Mao said that "we have to defeat America, we need more people"
and so woman who had many sons were "HERO MOTHERS"
apparently an economist at Beijing University questioned
this logic
saying China will suffer economically with a large population and be weakened
but Chairman Mao said "you are wrong!"
oh and one day I asked students different, same (Australia and China)
they could think of MANY ways they are different
and very few ways they are the same
COPIED FROM ..
http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/proverbs/k.html
No banquet in the world that never ends.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tian1xia4 mei2you3 bu4 san4 de yan4xi2.)
Nothing in the world is eternal. Friendship, relations and a good time are no exceptions
Crows everywhere are equally black.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tian1xia4 wu1ya1 yi1ban1 hei1.)
It is a metaphorical statement of "Bad people are bad no matter where you find them because human nature never changes".
Perseverance can reduce an iron rod to a sewing needle.
(Chinese original: é“æµç£¨æˆé’ˆChinese Pinyin: Tie3 chu3 mo2 cheng2 zhen1.)
See the story in my book The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese.
Dream different dreams on the same bed.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tong2 chuang2 yi4 meng4.)
Hide different purposes behind the semblance of accord.
A life with love is happy; a life for love is foolish.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Sheng1huo2 you3 ai4 xing4fu2, wei4 ai4 sheng1huo2 yu2chun3.)
A person moves up while water runs down.
(Chinese original: 人往高处走，水往低处æµChinese Pinyin: Ren2 wang3 gao1 chu4 zou3, shui3 wang3 di1 chu4 liu2.)
One should never give up efforts to improve oneself, whether morally or financially.
A man's greed is like a snake that wants to swallow an elephant.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ren2 xin1 bu4 zu2 she2 tun1 xiang4.)
You can never tell what one really thinks. Sincerity shows through one's actions rather than words and appearance.
A man's heart is indiscernible behind his chest.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ren2 xin1 ge2 du4 pi2.)
(A similar proverb: You may know someone by his appearance, but you may never know what he thinks. : Zhi1 ren2 zhi1 mian4 bu4 zhi1 xin1.)
You can never tell what one really thinks. Sincerity shows through one's actions rather than words and appearance.
Learn from other's strong points to offset one's shortcomings.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Qu3 chang2 bu3 duan3.)
The lotus root may be severed, but its fibered threads are still connected.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ou3 duan4 si1 lian2.)
Something apparently severed but actually connected, such as a human relationship."
A dragon will be teased by a shrimp in a shoal water; a tiger will be bullied by a dog on a treeless plain.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Long2 you2 qian3 shui3 zao1 xia1 xi4, hu3 luo4 ping2 yang2 bei4 quan3 qi1.)
(A similar proverb: A mighty dragon cannot subdue a local snake. : Qiang2 long2 bu1 an4 di4 tou2 she2.)
One thrives in his or her own territory. An able person in an adverse environment cannot bring his talent into full play. Instead, he or she may become an underdog of a less able person who has been in that environment for a long time with a lot of connections.
Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage.
(Chinese original: 萝卜白菜，各有所爱 Chinese Pinyin: Luo2bo1 bai2cai4, ge4 you3 suo3 ai4.)
"One man's meat is another's poison". People's preferences differ.
t is better to start weaving your fishing nets than merely coveting fish at the water.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Lin2 yuan1 mu4 yu2, bu4 ru2 tui4 er3 jie2 wang3.)
One should act than daydream.
Thunder is louder than the little rain warrants.
(Chinese original: 雷声大，雨点小 Chinese Pinyin: Lei2 sheng1 da4, yu3 dian3 xiao3.)
More words than action.
He who stays near vermilion gets stained red; he who stays near ink gets stained black.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Jin4 zhu1 zhe3 chi4, jin4 mo4 zhe3 hei1.)
One takes on the color of his company.
Harmony makes both a family and a nation prosperous.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Jia1 he2 ri4zi4 wang4; guo2 he2 wan4 shi4 xing1.)
Pick up a sesame seed only to lose a watermelon.
(Chinese original: 捡了芝麻丢了西瓜 Chinese Pinyin: Jian3 le zhi1ma2, diu1 le xi1gua1.)
Concentrate on small matters to the expense of more important ones.
Aged ginger is more pungent.
(Chinese original: 姜是老的辣Chinese Pinyin: Jiang1 shi4 lao3de la4.)
Elderly people are more experienced.
A friend made is a road paved; an enemy created is a wall built.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Jiao1 ge4 peng2you3 duo1 tiao2 lu4, shu4 ge4 di2ren2 duo1 du3 qiang2.)
How true: friends help while people you offend may turn out to be your liability. We should make more friends than enemies.
A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den.
(Chinese original: 狡兔三窟Chinese Pinyin: Jiao3 tu4 san1 ku1.)
To succeed one must have several alternatives.
A fragrant bloom is not necessarily a beautiful flower; an orator may not be a crackerjack.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Hua1 xiang1 bu4 yi2ding4 mei3li4, neng2 shuo1 bu4 yi2ding4 hui4 zuo4.)
Action is better than oration.
Draw a cake to satisfy one's hunger.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Hua4 bing3 chong1 ji1.)
An unrealistic solution to a problem serves no other purpose than self deception.
Swallow a date with its stone.
(Chinese original: 囫囵吞枣Chinese Pinyin: Hu2lun2 tun1 zao3.)
When someone does this, he is said to read without understanding.
Vicious as a tigress can be, she never eats her own cubs.
(Chinese original: 虎毒不食子 Chinese Pinyin: Hu3 du2 bu4 shi2 zi3.)
Those parents who hurt their children are worse than beasts of prey.
A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pin yin: He4 li4 ji1qun2.)
A crane is too obvious when it stands among a flock of chickens and looks very awkward. It is also true with a camel amidst a flock of sheep and a flea when it stands on top of a hairless head. They all carry a pejorative tone: the thing that out stands others is something awkward if not necessarily bad.
A honeyed mouth hides a daggered heart.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Kou3 mi4 fu4 jian4.)
Beware of this "kiss of death."
Love my house, love the crow on it.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Ai4 wu1 ji2 wu1.)
The crow may be ugly, but love it if your really love my house. A close English counterpart of this proverb is "Love me, love my dog."You can't tell the cost of food and fuel without
YOU cant tell the cost of being the head of a household; you can't appreciate the love of your parents without having children of your own.
(Chinese original: 不当家不知柴米贵，不养儿不知父母恩 Chinese Pinyin: Bu4 dang1jia1 bu4 zhi1 chai2 mi3 gui4, bu4 yang3 er2 bu4 zhi1 fu4mu3 en1.)
Drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dig it.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Chi1 shui3 bu1 wang4 jue1 jing3 ren2.)
One should always be grateful to those who helped him succeed.
If the lips are gone, the teeth will grow cold.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Chun2 wang2 chi3 han2.)
Two parties share a common interest. If one is hurt, the other will, too.
Respect out of fear is never genuine; reverence out of respect is never false.
(Chinese original: 打怕的人是假的，敬怕的人是真的 Chinese Pinyin: Da3 pa4 de ren2 shi4 jia3 de; jing4 pa4 de ren2 shi4 zhen1 de.)
Don't mention the word "dwarf" in front of a short person.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Dang1 zhe ai3ren2 bie2 shuo1 ai3 hua4.)
Mentioning a person's shortcomings will hurt his feelings. One needs to be tactful or diplomatic when communicating with others.
A mountain of knives and a sea of fire.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Dao1 shan1 huo3 hai3.)
Extremely difficulty and dangerous situation.
Dripping water can eat through a stone.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Di1 shui3 chuan1 shi2.)
Perseverance will lead to success.
A single tree makes no forest; one string makes no music.
(Chinese original: 独木不成林，单弦不成音 Chinese Pinyin: Du2 mu4 bu4 cheng2 lin2, dan1 xian2 bu4 cheng2 yin1.)
This proverb illustrates the significance of team work
Prescribe the right medicine for a symptom.
(Chinese original: 对症下药Chinese Pinyin: Dui4 zheng4 xia4 yao4.)
Take the right measures to tackle a problem to achieve the best result.
On the same boat in a tempest.
(Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Feng1 yu3 tong2 zhou1.)
Going through hardships together.
You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane are as sweet.
(Chinese original: 甘蔗没有两头甜 Chinese Pinyin: Gan1zhe4 mei2you3 liang3tou2 tian2.)
You can't have both: In order to get something, you have to sacrifice something else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
