Man's Nature is Good

This article starts out with the explanation of Kung Fu Tzu and Meng Tzu or also known as Mencius and their idea of man being born either good or evil. To be more specific you are born with a "blank slate" that could go either way. The question is man forced in one direction or is it molded into either direction depending on the person. Mencius speaks of how your surroundings and the events that go on in ones life will change how much evil or goodness will come. If you are born in a time of hunger or depression you are more likely to be evil or if your parents who are considered your teachers teach you to be good you will be good. You are naturally born with both good and evil inside but what you take from life will bring one of the two out more. This article is very interesting to me because I often think about people and how they can be so evil and yet so good at the same time. Throughout your life I think you find that balance of good and evil but on your way there you find yourself stuck judging yourself making some evil decisions and some good ones. Personally I catch myself weighing the amount of good and bad decisions I have made just in one day and hope that they balance themselves out. Another reason as to why I like this article is the way Kung Fu Tzu and Meng Tzu speak and how clearly you understand exactly what they mean.

Quote 1: “The nature of things is like swirling water: channel it east and it flows east, channel it west and it flows west. And human nature too is like water: it doesn’t choose between good and evil any more than water chooses between east and west”

Explanation: I believe this is a great quote because it almost sums up Master Kao’s precise thoughts of what this article is all about and it does it in such plain and simple terminology. It is the best metaphor for fit so that you can imagine exactly what he means.

Quote 2: “When people see you’re like an animal, they think that’s all the potential you have. But does that mean this is the human constitution?”

Explanation: Although it may not pertain to the exact message this article is talking about I do believe this quote is a good one because someone’s reaction to somebody else not acting human once is normally evil towards that human but if you were to think about how that person is not normally like an animal you are judging so instead of them being the evil man you are.