Comments on: Think Like An Aristocrat, Act Like A Builder

By: Anita

Anita — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 03:48:50 +0000

Amazing text, thank you!

By: 雷撃

雷撃 — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 21:15:43 +0000

I LOVE the way you can keep writing blog posts about the same thing just in different words/with new examples/quotes! You sir, are an inspiration. Because that’s exactly what I need, more of the same, keep hammering me with this! It keeps me on the right track and most of all amused!

愛してるよ、勝つ！The name alone is pure win!

By: Some Guy Again

Some Guy Again — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 20:32:43 +0000

Because you have decided to do it is reason enough. Because you want to is reason enough. As long as your learning Chinese won’t result in the deaths of countless innocent bystanders, even worrying about having the right kinds of reasons is pretty pointless. Ideally, you should care more about learning Chinese than whether it’s rational or reasonable to learn Chinese at all. That sort of giving/asking for reasons game is better left in seminar- and courtrooms; real gentlemen don’t concern themselves with such pesky notions as the authority of the better reason.

By: Pingfa

Pingfa — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 13:15:27 +0000

^ Good question. I asked myself the same question many times while learning Chinese. Ultimately I think the only reason that holds weight for the individual is personal security – to prove that you can do it, to take pride in having done so and having access to part of the world many people never see, expanding your horizons.
If ‘because it is there’ doesn’t suffice, how about ‘because there is more there’?

At the very least it gives one more to talk about.

By: Thomas Smith

Thomas Smith — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:30:52 +0000

Can anyone share any aristocratic reasons to decide to become Chinese-speaking (or anything-speaking)? “Because it’s there” is a bit *too* aristocratic to really work. And all the usual reasons most people give just evaporate on contact with air.

What story do you tell yourself to really feel good about your decision?

By: Vian

Vian — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 00:09:35 +0000

Nice post Khatz! I love the analogy. Use the Aristocrat side of you to say “I am Japanese!” and the Builder side to say “What can I do right now to be Japanese?”. Or something in that sense. 😛

By: mark95427

mark95427 — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:25:00 +0000

“But if you don’t fire up that inner aristocrat, you’re gonna be just a builder, living the default life you were given, in the default language and country you were given, and all within a twenty-five-mile radius of where you were born. Quaint? Yes. Romantic? Maybe. Interesting? Meh.”

Beautiful day… Oh, every day is a beautiful day.
Happy summer solstice, Khatz.