December 14, 2025 Selfish desires form a necessary part of the energy for life. But if you focus too much on your own desires in making decisions, you risk being captivated by immediate gains. This can lead to significant losses and the sacrifice of trust from those around you.   On the other hand, decisions that take into account not only personal interest but also the impact on others and society as a whole tend to foster a broader perspective and a deeper understanding of

November 13, 2025 The origin of the admonition, “A small good is like a great evil, while a great good may appear merciless,” is from the Chinese classic The Caigentan  (aka, The Unencumbered Spirit: Reflections of a Chinese Sage ), but I first heard this from Dr. Kazuo Inamori, who was the founder and honorary chairman of Kyocera. The idea is that what we don’t want to hear is often what we need for personal growth, while what appears to be kindness can lead to self-indulgen

October 24, 2025 When someone is said to be acting with courage, we feel a sense of bravery or heroism. However, it seems to me that our understanding of the meaning is often ambiguous. As a child, for example, I confused feats of daring, like jumping off the second-story landing or grabbing a snake with my bare hands, with “courage.” Now I have come to realize, with the benefit of age, that these were acts of foolhardiness, quite different from true courage. What is the diff