, those individual concerns were always placed formally in the context of the family and social organization. Confucius was a practical man with both feet planted on the ground. He believed that if he could gain powerful political office, he could create the ideal society, a vision which reminds us of Plato, as we shall see.
As we read in Huston Smith's The Religions of Man, "As state after state disregarded his counsels of peace and concern for the people, recluses and hermits sneered at his efforts to reform society and advised him to join their quest for a self-mastery sufficient to offset the ills of a society beyond redemption . . . A failure as a politician, Confucius was undoubtedly one of the world's greatest teachers" (Smith, 1965, p. 144).
Confucius' teachings consisted of a practical blend of concern for self-development and a concern for other human beings. It is a down-to-earth philosophy which reminds us somewhat of the practicality and good humor of Benjamin Franklin. Some of Confucius' sayings are: "What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others. I will not grieve that men do not know me; I will grieve that I do not know men . . . A man without virtue cannot abide long in adversity, nor can he long abide in happiness . . . Do not wish for quick results, nor look for small advantages. If you seek quick results, you will not attain the ultimate goal. If you are led astray by small advantages, you will never accomplish great things . . ." (Smith, 1965, p. 146).
We are hardly astonished at such practical wisdom today, so why did Confucius have such a vast impact in his own time and afterwards? The answer in part is that Confucius' calls to virtue and filial piety in a social context were in response to the social anarchy which was in danger of tearing the country apart. Confucius rejected others, call for force to instill social order, and he also rejected t
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