Analects of confucius

An article in Economist May 19th issue on confucianism making a comeback in the books and recent television series on CCTV in China by Yu Dan (her book grossing 4m copies) made me do some googling on confucius's analects and her interpretations. She seems to be getting both a lot of flak and appreciation for her interpretation and bringing back the ancient wisdom in today's context when there is no spiritual and moral anchor and money is the only value system.
China like India has similar problem with the huge economic surge of widening regional disparity, wealth differentials and rising social tension. For the government then, confucianism seems like a blessing. Anyways, here are some analects I liked

The Master said, "Let the will be set on the path of duty. Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped. Let perfect virtue be accorded with. Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts."

The Master said, "The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."

The Master said, "Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors"

Reek of India

There was a time i used to believe like Diogenes the cynic that i am a citizen of the world. I used to say that a blade of grass is the same anywhere. Now i think that each blade of grass has its own spot from where it draws its strength. So is a man rooted to a land from where he draws his faith and his life. But there is also a struggle to extricate ourselves from our pasts — from family, obligations and the “curse of history”.

Gurucharan Das has so well expressed in these last few lines about the roots of a person and how it is plays to give strength to his/her life..I think though the reason why we are away from it is because of our obligations to ourselves..and now with more opportunities in India, we have the choice to fulfill both: our obligations to ourselves and our pasts.