Chinese proverb

KungfukennyG

White Belt
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
11
Reaction score
8
Location
Tampa, FL
He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived. -
Chinese Proverb

I was hoping someone could help me understand what the last part of the proverb means? Currently, I am “halfway there”. I am a big proponent for personao responsibility and believe that I am where I am due to my choices. I just don’t understand what it means to blame no one?
When you blame no one, you are enlightened. That's what it means. You have arrived at enlightenment, casting off the burden and weight of blaming yourself or other people. Walk on. If you sabotage yourself, recover and walk on. If other people sabotage you, recover and walk on. In the end, you achieve your goal and there is no one to blame. Sometimes, the people who sabotage us can be helpful, too, because they can make us more determined after we recover from their efforts. And sometimes, we continue to walk on even when we tell ourselves we can't. We do it anyway. I think this is what it means.
 

Oily Dragon

Senior Master
Joined
May 2, 2020
Messages
3,257
Reaction score
1,651
When you blame no one, you are enlightened. That's what it means. You have arrived at enlightenment, casting off the burden and weight of blaming yourself or other people. Walk on. If you sabotage yourself, recover and walk on. If other people sabotage you, recover and walk on. In the end, you achieve your goal and there is no one to blame. Sometimes, the people who sabotage us can be helpful, too, because they can make us more determined after we recover from their efforts. And sometimes, we continue to walk on even when we tell ourselves we can't. We do it anyway. I think this is what it means.
 

Xue Sheng

All weight is underside
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
34,365
Reaction score
9,533
Location
North American Tectonic Plate
I’m not brave enough. I Have some small amount of self preservation sense as well.

Got to tell you this story. Good friends of mine from Guangzhou China. We were having a conversation and the wife told me her mother was #3 wife to her father. Then she looked at her husband and said to me, "if he wanted more than one wife I'd kill him". He looked at me and said, "If I had more than one wife I'd kill myself"
 

Wing Woo Gar

Senior Master
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
3,804
Reaction score
2,071
Location
Northern California
Got to tell you this story. Good friends of mine from Guangzhou China. We were having a conversation and the wife told me her mother was #3 wife to her father. Then she looked at her husband and said to me, "if he wanted more than one wife I'd kill him". He looked at me and said, "If I had more than one wife I'd kill myself"
🤣
 

Gerry Seymour

MT Moderator
Staff member
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
30,045
Reaction score
10,605
Location
Hendersonville, NC
I don't know about you guys, but the women in my house are all literal geniuses. There is no hope for me.
My wife argues I'm the smartest person in the house, but....I haven't published over 160 books. So, if I'm smarter, it doesn't show in the results.
 

MrBigglesworth

Yellow Belt
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
46
Reaction score
31
For me, it seems that if you blame anyone (including yourself), then you're not at peace with yourself.
Failure doesn't *require* blame or shame. Accept it, learn from it and try again a little bit wiser.
Blame and shame are signs that you're stuck at your point of failure, so how can you ever get to where you need to be?
 
Last edited:

Wing Woo Gar

Senior Master
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
3,804
Reaction score
2,071
Location
Northern California
For me, it seems that if you blame anyone (including yourself), then you're not at peace with yourself.
Failure doesn't *require* blame or shame. Accept it, learn from it and try again a little bit wiser.
Blame and shame are signs that you're stuck at your point of failure, so how can you ever get to where you need to be?
I don’t think of it as failure, I see it as an opportunity to learn or teach. It doesn’t have to have any negative connotations.
 

Xue Sheng

All weight is underside
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
34,365
Reaction score
9,533
Location
North American Tectonic Plate
For me, it seems that if you blame anyone (including yourself), then you're not at peace with yourself.
Failure doesn't *require* blame or shame. Accept it, learn from it and try again a little bit wiser.
Blame and shame are signs that you're stuck at your point of failure, so how can you ever get to where you need to be?

Well...there is a Chinese proverb that says...."It's my fault" no matter what it is...'it's my fault" at least that is what my wife tells me...and she's Chinese, so it must be a proverb :D
 

Steve

Mostly Harmless
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
21,986
Reaction score
7,542
Location
Covington, WA
I don’t think of it as failure, I see it as an opportunity to learn or teach. It doesn’t have to have any negative connotations.

Oh, I don't know. I think failing is a thing we all do, and rebranding failure as something can be counterproductive. Better to embrace failure as a integral part of learning.

While some folks will groan when I say this, I think this idea is central to why some styles succeed and others struggle at maintaining standards. As the dog in @drop bear 's video said, sucking at something is the first step to being kind of good at something (or something like that).
 

Gerry Seymour

MT Moderator
Staff member
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
30,045
Reaction score
10,605
Location
Hendersonville, NC
Oh, I don't know. I think failing is a thing we all do, and rebranding failure as something can be counterproductive. Better to embrace failure as a integral part of learning.

While some folks will groan when I say this, I think this idea is central to why some styles succeed and others struggle at maintaining standards. As the dog in @drop bear 's video said, sucking at something is the first step to being kind of good at something (or something like that).
I think reframing might be helpful for folks who have a problem with the feeling that failure is final. Some folks were basically taught that growing up (and I've seen some workplaces that taught it).

But I agree that the concept of failing should be something we embrace. If we can't fail at something - if that's not a possibility - then we're never really pushing at all, nowhere near our limits, so we don't know where those limits are.
 

Steve

Mostly Harmless
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
21,986
Reaction score
7,542
Location
Covington, WA
I think reframing might be helpful for folks who have a problem with the feeling that failure is final. Some folks were basically taught that growing up (and I've seen some workplaces that taught it).
I hear you. I just don't think rebranding works all that well, though. I actually believe it's counterproductive.

Resilient people don't deceive themselves. They accept adversity as part of the process and keep chugging along.

Resilient teams don't punish their peeps for taking risks and failing.


But I agree that the concept of failing should be something we embrace. If we can't fail at something - if that's not a possibility - then we're never really pushing at all, nowhere near our limits, so we don't know where those limits are.
Totally. I mean, there's a little more to it, but if you're taking risks, being creative, and understanding that if you're really pushing boundaries, you will fail more than you succeed, you are doing it right.
 

Wing Woo Gar

Senior Master
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
3,804
Reaction score
2,071
Location
Northern California
Well...there is a Chinese proverb that says...."It's my fault" no matter what it is...'it's my fault" at least that is what my wife tells me...and she's Chinese, so it must be a proverb :D
That’s a funny! When training, my Sifu would often say to me, ”don’t worry if you are right or wrong, you are wrong”.
 

Latest Discussions

Top