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It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

Confucius (attributed)

Philosophy

The story behind the card

This wording is not in the Analects, the collection of Confucius's sayings put together by his followers; it is a modern paraphrase. The Analects makes the same point with an image, in Book 9: steady effort is like raising a mound of earth. If I stop when just one basket is missing, the stopping is mine; if I tip a single basket onto level ground and carry on, the progress is mine too. Confucius (551–479 BC), a teacher from the state of Lu, valued persistence over speed.

Türkçe oku
Durmadıkça ne kadar yavaş gittiğin önemli değil.
Konfüçyüs (atfedilir)

Bu ifade, Konfüçyüs'ün sözlerini öğrencilerinin derlediği Konuşmalar'da geçmez; modern bir uyarlamadır. Konuşmalar aynı düşünceyi 9. kitapta bir benzetmeyle anlatır: Sabırlı çaba, toprak yığıp tepe yapmaya benzer. Tepenin bitmesine tek sepet kalmışken durursam, duran benimdir; düz bir yere tek bir sepet toprak döküp devam edersem, ilerleyen de benimdir. MÖ 551–479 yılları arasında yaşayan, Lu Devleti'nden öğretmen Konfüçyüs, hızdan çok sürekliliğe değer verirdi. Türkçedeki “Damlaya damlaya göl olur” sözü de aynı sabrı anlatır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Confucius
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