“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”
I found this to be a particularly fascinating quote to stumble upon because I am also a part time SAT teacher. As such, I teach students how to write a persuasive essay in 25 minutes by using good examples and by taking a side. Funny enough, one of the questions that I use regularly when I assign them weekly essays to practice this skill is, “Do a person’s friends tell you about his character?”
It was curious, then, to find this Buddhist quote that states quite definitely that, yes, a person’s friends do tell you about his character. Generally, my students argue the same, however poorly, but it’s interesting to see this here – yet with no support.
I have no interest in weighing in on the issue, but just thought that I’d share this quote for the week and ask what you think and why.
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Filed under: Zen Talk Tagged: | Buddha, Buddhism, character, friends, wisdom, Zen, Zen Buddhism, Zen Talk
