Reasonable, unfanatical, humanistic, Confucianism is one of the most workable patterns of social convention that the world has known.

It is a basic Confucian principle that “It is man who makes truth great, not truth which makes man great.” For this reason “humanness” or “human-heartedness” is always feels to be superior to righteousness, since man himself is greater than any idea which he may invent. There are times when men’s passions are much more trustworthy than their principles. Since opposed principles or ideologies, are irreconcilable, wars fought over principle will be wars of mutual annihilation. But wars fought for simple greed will be far less destructive, because the aggressor will be careful not to destroy what he is fighting to capture. Reasonable-that is, human-men will always be capable of compromise, but men who have dehumanized themselves by becoming the blind worshippers of an idea or an ideal are fanatics whose devotion to abstractions makes them the enemies of life.