100 Thoughts

Life is never a black and white straight line, but a curve that requires flexible response. In the workplace, saying "You only speak three cents when meeting people" is not hypocrisy, but to protect your own boundaries; in interpersonal communication, not echoing others' self-deprecation or spreading other people's secrets is not sophistication, but respecting others' cultivation; at family gatherings, responding to income inquiries with "enough money is enough" is not perfunctory, but the wisdom of maintaining family ties. These "minds" are hidden in every scene that is close to life. They are the double feedback when others help you, the room left when others make mistakes, the refusal to drink or show off at the wine table, and the clear division of labor before cooperation. The 100 rules in the book are all derived from real life cases - there are lessons from hitting a wall because you don't know how to measure, and there are also experiences from going smoothly because you know how to advance and retreat. It does not teach you to deliberately please, nor does it teach you to be indifferent and alienated. Instead, it tells you that the core of life is "circle on the outside and square on the inside". You can be flexible on the outside, but stick to the bottom line on the inside; the key to treating others is "empathy and respect", and neither wronging yourself nor hurting others.