You Are What You do

If the past has taught us anything, it is that every cause brings effect——every action has a consequence. This thought, in my opinion, is the moral foundation of the universe; it applies in this world and the next.

We Chinese have a saying: “if a man plants melons, he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans.” This is true of every man’s life: good begets good, and evil leads to evil.

True enough, the sun shines on the saint and sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked wax and prosper. But we can say with certitude that, with the individual as with the nation, that the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for, unceasingly, life keeps books on us.

In the end, we are all sum total of our actions. Character can not be counterfeited, nor can it be put on and cast off as if it was a garment to meet the whim of the moment. Like the markings on wood which are ingrained in the vary heart of the tree, character requires time and nurture for growth and development.

Such day by day, we write our destiny. For inexorably we become what we do. This, I believe, is the supreme logic and law of life.