My daughter Alex in Peace Corps, Zambia

陈凯博客： www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

什么是真正的人？
What Is A Real Man/Woman?

价值一语: Words of Value:

"A man is one whose body has been trained to be the ready servant of his mind; whose passions are trained to be the servants of his will; who enjoys the beautiful, loves truth, hates wrong, loves to do good, and respects others as himself." --- John Ruskin

"It is not what a man gets, but what a man is, that he should think of. --- He should think first of his character, and then of his condition: for if he have the former, he need have no fears about the latter. --- Character will draw condition after it. --- Circumstances obey priciples. --- Henry Ward Beecher

"一个人的身体应被训练去服从他的头脑；他的激情去服从他的意志；他享受美，热爱真理，喜做善事，并像尊重他自身一样尊重他人。“ --- John Ruskin

”一个人应去思索的不是他得到了什么，而是他是什么。 他首先应想到的是他的品质，然后才是他的处境： 因为如果他有了先者，他就不会恐惧得不到后者。 品质决定处境。 处境只服从原则。 --- Henry Ward Beecher

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By Kai Chen 陈凯 (Reprint 10/2/2011)

These two quotes pretty much sum up what I believe in all my life. And this belief has never disappointed me. Today I can say, with great pride, I have had a great life, and as Frank Sanatra's song claims "I took the blows and I did it my way".

Unfortunately, this has rarely been what a typical Chinese person believe and henceforth, very few Chinese people have experienced the joy, passion and happiness I had experienced. It is a pity.

Most Chinese, by conditioning, believe people don't have choices and are not free from the start. They are the creatures of their own environment and the product of their cultural and social conditioning. They are the prisoners of the circumstances they are in. This mentality has led to the sorrowful condition China is in today, for no one wants to initiate and to create, and to say "No" to the enrivonment and circumstance they have been born into, or taken into. Passivity has become the rule, and freedom an exception.

Surely it is not easy to take a firm stand against the powerful forces the Chinese call “Fate", and it takes a trememdous courage and wisdom to beat the odds to win one's freedom. But I will tell you that it is possible, and more importantly, it is worth the risk and struggle and the suffering that you have to go through. When you finally take off into the realm of freedom, everything opens up -- the limitless potentials are right in front of your eyes, and life is full of joy and passion.

Shedding your old shell and liberate yourself to fly into joyful liberation is what God always intends us to do. I am doing it now and experiencing it now on this forum with you, for I hope everyone experiences what I have experienced. I wish you the best, on your way to freedom.