Farida El-gueretly

“With all this investment in our self-definition, we risk building our future on a very narrow sense of who we are - what we see as our strengths and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes. Many Chinese thinkers might say that in doing this, we are looking at such a small part of who we are potentially. We're taking a limited number of our emotional dispositions during a certain time and place and allowing those to define us forever. By thinking of human nature as monolithic, we instantly limit our potential.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

“There is no ethical or moral framework that transcends context and the complexity of human life. All we have is the messy world within which to work and better ourselves. These ordinary as-if rituals are the means by which we imagine new realities over time construct new worlds. Our lives begin in the everyday and stay in the everyday. Only in the everyday can we begin to create truly great worlds.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

“True influence isn't to be found in over strength or will. It comes from creating a world that feels so natural that no one questions it. This is how a Laozian safe wields enormous influence.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

“We tend to believe that to change the world, we have to think big. Confucius wouldn't dispute this, but he would likely also say. Don't ignore the small. Don't forget the "pleases" and "thank yous." Change doesn't happen until people alter their behavior, and they don't alter their behavior unless they start with the small.”
― Michael Puett, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life