In general, anything that develops too fast will fall apart just
as quickly, whereas a slow and steady development is more assured of
yielding favorable results. Plants that unravel into full bloom in
early morning may wither and fall by the evening, but the slow-growing
pine trees will not wither even in the extreme winter cold. Hence,
a superior person* does not hasten to achieve results. Scroll 26: Wei Zhi, Vol. 2
person, sometimes meaning a power holder, which is its original sense. The term is a compound word composed of two written characters, which separately means “ruler’s son.” Under the changing social conditions of the Warring States period, the concept of birthright was replaced by the notion of an “aristocracy of merit,” and in the Confucian school, the term junzi came to denote an “ethical aristocrat” rather than a future king. The hallmark of the junzi was his complete internalization of the virtue of ren (benevolence) and associated qualities, such as, yi (righteousness) and full socialization through ritual skills. –Bob Eno, The Analects of Confucius, 2010.
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