What we repeat from now on will determine our future direction.
The 200,000-copy bestseller "The Analects of Confucius for Fifty"
A special lecture on life from Korea's leading classical lecturer

“At forty, you should be unshaken by the temptations of life and the world.”
“If you do something that will make you hated at forty, your life will be worthless.”
“People who haven’t heard the words ‘you’re good’ even at the age of forty or fifty have nothing to fear.”

Confucius also emphasized how important the years between forty and fifty are in life.
Will you live your life going with the flow, or will you be dragged along? Will you wander, wavering, or will you move forward unwaveringly? Will you live in loneliness and hatred, or will you live in harmony with others? The Analects of Confucius say, "What you repeat determines your future direction and changes your life."
And it tells the 40s, the pivotal age of work, people, and life, the standards of life and things to repeat.
Confucius set the standards of life on 'the highest wisdom' and 'the highest mind.'
The greatest wisdom is the ability to understand others, and the greatest mind is the mind that loves and understands others without fighting, and lives in harmony and peace.
A person who possesses these two qualities is a ‘wise man’ and a ‘benevolent man’ respectively.
Confucius became a wise man at the age of forty, and a benevolent man at the age of fifty, when he was given the mandate of heaven.
Same goes for us.
Between the ages of forty and fifty, when you realize life, you need to be able to see people well and get along well with them to make your future life easier.

So, what should we repeat to achieve the ultimate wisdom and heart between forty and fifty? Choi Jong-yeop, author of the 200,000-copy bestseller "The Analects: Reading at Fifty" and a leading lecturer on classical Korean literature, has compiled 30 key passages from the 2,500-year-old self-management textbook "The Analects," along with stories from Confucius and his disciples, into "Between Forty and Fifty."
This book provides advice on how to live by redefining your standards for yourself, work, and relationships.
Between forty and fifty is the perfect time to live a brighter and more fulfilling life.
What will fill this time? What will we repeat and pass through? The gap between the lives of those who have read the Analects and those who haven't will be enormous.
I hope that the Analects will fill you with the fundamentals to be more firmly rooted in the present, the inner strength to stand firm and steady, and the vision to move forward with virtue and wisdom.

Between forty and fifty.
Standing at the midpoint of your life, you take a moment to ask yourself whether you have lived well so far and how you will live in the future.
That's because the period between forty and fifty isn't just a midpoint, but a crucial time when a new chapter in life begins.
It is time to look back on myself and refine myself for a better, more wonderful life.
If there's anything we need at this time, it's to understand ourselves more deeply, to re-establish our relationships with work, and to confirm our unwavering standards for living.
--- p.6, from “The Standard of Life Found in the Old Future 《Analects》”

Habits become distant, repetition makes things more and more distant.
Repetition is what makes life successful, and consistency is what makes life different.
But that repetition is difficult.
Consistency isn't easy.
If it were easy, why would they have emphasized it so much 2,500 years ago? We already know that if you practice it long enough, you can become good at it, and if you excel at anything, you can succeed.
It's not that I don't know the principle and can't do it.
I can't do it because it's not easy to do it consistently.
However, Confucius gave a model answer to that question as follows:


Confucius said:
He who knows it is not as good as he who loves it, and he who loves it is not as good as he who enjoys it.
Son says, knowledgeable person, good person, good person, good person, pleasant person.
If you support me, I will support you. If you support me, I will support you.
--- p.27, from “The One Who Likes It is Hard to Defeat”

“This is how time passes.”
The disciples did not miss this one word from their teacher and wrote it down.
How should we live? How should we spend our time? What should we focus on? For whom should we work? This is a profound book that makes us realize the reason for living, the way we live, the reason for living, and the purpose for which we must live.
--- p.34, from “Time is like a river, flowing without rest”

Confucius said:
Don't worry about others not knowing you, worry about not knowing others.
子不曰不患人之不己知 患不知人也
Jawal is a non-refundable and non-refundable person.

Don't worry about your boss not knowing you, worry about not knowing your boss well. Only then will you be able to solve the problem.
Don't worry about your teammates not knowing you; worry about not knowing your teammates well. That's when the problem is solved.
Don't worry about your customers not knowing you, worry about not knowing your customers well, and that's when your customers' wallets open.
Don't worry that your wife doesn't know you; worry that you don't know her well. That's when you find peace.
Don't worry about your child not knowing you; worry about not knowing your child well. Only then will the problem be solved.
Don't worry about the job not being right for you; worry about not knowing enough about the job is what makes things easier.
--- p.69, from “Don’t Worry About Nothing | Worry About Yourself, Not About Others”

Confucius said:
If a person does not think far ahead, there will inevitably be worries nearby.
The child said, “There is no sorrow, no sorrow, no sorrow.”
Jawal Inmuwonryeo Pilyu Geunwoo

The saying that if you don't think far ahead, your worries will be nearby means that if you think far ahead, your worries and concerns about nearby things will decrease.
It means that you can overcome your worries and concerns.
So if you have any worries or concerns, you need to think a little further ahead.
It means to have hope and dreams.
This is because these hopes, dreams, and goals for the future give us the strength to overcome the worries and concerns that are weighing us down now.
--- p.103, from “People Don’t Foresee | The Farther You Look, the Easier It Gets”

Confucius said:
For example, if I stop building a mountain because I don't have enough earth to build it, then I have stopped. For example, if I start leveling the land because I pour in enough earth, then I have made progress.
子曰 譬如爲山 Is it the end of the world? Is it the end of the world? It's the flat land of the future? Go ahead and go
Jawal Biyeowisan Misungilgwi Ji Ojiya Biyeo Pyeongji Subokilgwi Jinohwangya

If you don't start, the chances of it working out are zero.
But the chances of getting started start from 1.
The important thing is the beginning, because 1 can become 2 and 2 can become 4.
If you can't do it alone, your family can do it together.
If I can't achieve it in my generation, my son or grandson may.
If I can't do it, the village or group can do it.
If a village or group cannot achieve it, the country can.
That is why Confucius said that the reckless beginning was not a reckless beginning.
--- p.145, from “Even if it is covered by one? | Both the one who begins and the one who finishes are themselves”

There is no unimportant period in our lives, but our 40s are a pivotal one.
When forty is shaken, life is shaken, family is shaken, business is shaken, and nation is shaken.
That's why the number 'forty' appears three times in the Analects.
First, there is no confusion at the age of forty.
If you waver at forty, your life will be messed up.
If you are swayed by promotion, you will only focus on work, and if you are swayed by salary, you will focus on changing jobs and careers.
If you are swayed by reason, the tower of life you have built up so far may become an empty chant, and if you take your eyes off one eye, the rest of your eyes may be taken away as well.
The second mention is the forty-two-year-old view of evil.
Confucius's point is that if you show hatred at the age of forty, your life is already over.
The third mention is that of being forty-five and not knowing anything.
Confucius's warning is that if you don't hear people say you're good at something even when you're forty or fifty, you're not someone to be afraid of.
Confucius repeatedly mentioned in the Analects that successfully reaching the age of forty is the shortcut to a successful life.
--- p.153, from “Forty-Fifty (四十五十) | Abilities that must be possessed at the center of life”

Confucius said:
Those who are born knowing are superior, those who learn by learning are next in line, those who learn through hardship are next in line, and those who do not learn even when faced with hardship are lower in line among the people.
Confucius said: Born, educated, educated, educated, educated, educated, educated, educated, learned, learned, learned, learned, learned, learned, learned, learned, learned, learned, studied, studied, studied, learned, studied, learned, learned, learned, studied, studied, learned, studied, learned, studied, learned as a student, learned as a student
Confucius said, “If a person is born, he will support them. If a student is born, he will support them. If a person is born without learning, he will learn. If a person is born without learning, he will learn. If a person is born without learning, he will learn.

If there is one thing you need to do between the pivotal years of your life, your forties and fifties, to prepare for the more stable and hopeful forties of your fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties after spending the busy forties of your 10s, 20s, 30s, and 40s, it is to build the strength to establish yourself and your work.
If you were dissatisfied with your 10s, 20s, or 30s, it is time to think about studying hardship.
It is time to take action to escape the difficulties we have been facing.
You need to change your attitude and the way you work.
You have to change your thinking or change your beliefs.
The years between forty and fifty in our lives are the best times to study Gon-i-hak.
So far, quite a few people have established themselves and created things during this period.
If someone in the past could have such a meaningful time between forty and fifty, it is possible for us now too.

--- p.178, from “If you don’t learn when you’re in trouble, there’s no way to save you”

When Meng Wubo asked about filial piety, Confucius said:
Parents only worry about their children getting sick.
The story of the child, the father, the mother, the family, and the sorrow of the child.
The saying, "Meng Wu Baek Mun Hyo Ja-Wol" means "the abandonment of parents is the quality of life"

The disciple who asked Confucius this question was Meng Wubo, a young man from the Meng family, one of the most famous families in the state of Lu at the time.
Meng Wubai was a descendant of a powerful family at the time and was very fat.
Che(?) was his original name.
This means 'pig', which is also a clue that he was very fat.
So when he asked Confucius about filial piety, Confucius said this:
“Your parents will only worry about you getting sick.
Your parents are always worried that you might suffer from an illness.
So you have to take good care of your body.
If you get sick, there's nothing more heartbreaking for your parents than that.
“What kind of filial piety is that?”
--- p.191, from 「The sorrow of its disease | It is easy to love, but it is difficult to love to the death」

Zizhang asked.
If there is one thing that a person who lives a righteous life should have in his or her heart, what would it be?
Confucius said:
That's what it means to stand.
I don't ask others to do what I don't want to do myself.
The child is talking about money, it is one person, the other person, the person who wants to use the body, the person who wants to use it, the person who wants to use it, and the person who wants to use it
The only one who can say this is the one who has lived a long life. The poet who has said this is the one who has said this.

I asked what letter would be needed for a person who strives to live an upright and honest life.
When his disciple Zigong asked Confucius to teach him just one word, Confucius's answer was 'forgiveness'.
The word is forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a combination of 恕 and 容, meaning 'to accept, to contain.'
The character 恕 is a combination of the characters 如 (like) and 心 (heart), meaning 'same heart'.
So, to forgive someone means that their heart and my heart become one.
In order to have the same mind as each other, we must stand in each other's shoes.
Those who forgive forgive
It is possible only when the receiver is in the position of the one who forgives, and the one who is forgiven is in the position of the one who forgives.
--- p.226, from “Seo (恕) | What I don’t want to do, others don’t want to do either”

Confucius said:
The wise man loves water, and the benevolent man loves mountains.
The land is dynamic and the people are static.
The wise live happily, and the benevolent live long.
The wise man, the wise man, the joyful water, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man, the wise man.
Jawal Jijayosu Injayosan Jijadong Injajeong Jijarak Injasu

Life is similar to this.
Life in general is more suited to the life of a wise person.
Because our lives are only one for each of us, and because they are unstable and unstable, we need standards.
So, if you live the first half of your life like a powerful river, more actively, more challengingly, and more passionately, focusing on work, you will have fewer regrets.
The latter half of life is more suited to the life of a person of character.
Even if it is to live a more comfortable, more stable, and more loving life, different from the rough and tumble of life.
This is because a life of more forgiveness, more love, and more understanding is a life of mercy.

--- p.265, from “Yosanyosu (樂山樂水) | Two axes that hold life together”