Khối lượng sách học thật là đồ sộ, lại phải học thuộc lòng và hiểu đúng nghĩa nên nho sinh mất rất nhiều công phu học và vất vả gian nan. Cực khổ nhất là phải chờ hai ba năm mới có kỳ thi. Khi đi thi thí sinh lại phải mang theo lều, chõng, thức ăn, lặn lội xa xôi lên kinh thành.


Ngày nay nghe đến hai từ “lều chõng,” có lẽ nhiều người sẽ lấy làm lạ vì những từ ấy từ biệt chúng ta mà đi tới chỗ mất tích đã gần 3 chục năm nay. Nhưng mà trước hơn 2 chục năm đi ngược trở lên, cho đến hơn 1000 năm, “lều,” “chõng” đã làm chủ vận mệnh giang sơn cũ ký mà người ta tán khoe là “bốn nghìn năm văn hiến.” Những ông ngồi trong miếu đường làm rường cột cho nhà nước, những ông ở nơi tuyền thạch, làm khuôn mẫu cho đạo đức phong hoá, đều ở trong đám “lều chõng” mà ra. Lều chõng với nước Việt Nam chẳng khác một đôi tạo vật đã chế tạo đủ các hạng người hữu dụng hay vô dụng. Chính nó đã làm cho nước Việt Nam trở nên một nước có văn hoá. Rồi lại chúng nó đã đưa nước Việt Nam đến chỗ diệt vong.


Về trình độ hiểu biết: Người thủ lĩnh chính trị nhất thiết phải là người thông minh, hiểu biết sâu rộng các lĩnh vực; có tư duy khoa học; nắm vững được quy luật phát triển theo hướng vận động của quá trình chính trị; có khả năng dự đoán được tình hình; làm chủ được khoa học và công nghệ lãnh đạo, quản lý.

Về năng lực tổ chức: thủ lĩnh chính trị là người có khả năng về công tác tổ chức, nghĩa là biết đề ra mục tiêu đúng; phân công nhiệm vụ đúng chức năng cho cấp dưới và cho từng người; biết tổ chức thực hiện nhiệm vụ chính trị; có khả năng động viên, cổ vũ, khích lệ mọi người hoạt động; có khả năng kiểm soát, kiểm tra công việc.

Về đạo đức, tác phong: thủ lĩnh chính trị phải là người có tính trung thực, công bằng không tham lam, vụ lợi; cởi mở và cương quyết; có lối sống giản dị; có khả năng giao tiếp và có quan hệ tốt với mọi người; biết lắng nghe ý kiến của người khác; có lòng tin vào chính bản thân mình; có khả năng tự kiểm tra bản thân, khả năng giữ gìn và bảo vệ ý kiến của mình; có lòng say mê công việc và lòng tin vào cấp dưới.

Về khả năng làm việc: có sức khoẻ tốt, khả năng làm việc với cường độ cao, có khả năng giải quyết vấn đề một cách sáng tạo, những lúc phong trào lầm vào khó khăn, thủ lĩnh chính trị có thể đưa ra được những quyết định sáng suốt; nhạy cảm và năng động; biết cảm nhận cái mới và đấu tranh vì cái mới.


Student from Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid doing worse than they have done before or from failing to learn as much as they should have, whereas student from non-Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid looking incompetent, or to avoid demonstrating a lack of ability in front of their peers.


A defense mechanism is an unconscious psychological mechanism that reduces anxiety arising from unacceptable or potentially harmful stimuli.


Kopitiam founder once shared a very good business strategy: dominate the drink and dessert stall, while renting out the food stalls.


Stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure. Stress is a type of psychological pain. Small amounts of stress may be desired, beneficial, and even healthy. Positive stress may be desired, beneficial, and even healthy. Positive stress helps improve athletic performance. It also plays a factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment.


Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict.


Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. Integrity is the inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others “have integrity” to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.


The concept of character can express a variety of attributes including the presence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits. Moral character primarily refers to the collection of qualities that differentiate one individual from another. Moral character is the sum of one’s moral habits and dispositions.


Four cardinal virtues:

  • Prudence: the ability to discern the appropriate course of action to be taken.
  • Justice: also considered as fairness; meaning righteousness.
  • Fortitude: also termed courage: forbearance, strength, endurance, and the ability to confront fear, uncertainty, and intimidation.
  • Temperance: also known as restraint, the practice of self-control, abstention, discretion, and moderation tempering the appetition. Plato considered sound-mindedness to be the most important virtue.

National interest, often referred to by the French expression raison d’etat (reason of state), is a rationality of governing referring to a sovereign state’s goals and ambitions, be they economic, military, cultural, or otherwise.


When the death of the King was announced to us yesterday morning, there struck a deep and somber note in our lives, which resounded far and wide, stilled the clatter and traffic of 20th century life, and made countless millions of human beings around the world pause and look around them. The King was greatly loved by all his peoples. The greatest shocks ever felt by this island fell upon us in his reign. Never, in our long history were we exposed to greater perils of invasion and destruction. The late King, who assumed the heavy burden of the Crown when he succeeded his brother, lived through every minute of this struggle with a heart that never quavered and a spirit undaunted. In the end, death came as a friend. And after a happy day of sunshine and sport, and after a goodnight to those who loved him best, he fell asleep, as every man or woman who strives to fear God and nothing else in the world, may hope to do. Now, I must leave the treasures of the past and turn to the future. Famous have been the reigns of our queens. Some of the greatest periods in our history have unfolded under their scepters. Queen Elizabeth II, like her namesake, Queen Elizabeth I, did not pass her childhood in any certain expectation of the Crown. This new Elizabethan age comes at a time when mankind stands uncertainly poised on the edge of catastrophe. I, whose youth was passed in the august, unchallenged and tranquil glories of the Victorian era, may well fill the thrill in invoking once more the prayer and anthem, God Save the Queen


She stared at herself in the mirror. Her loose light curls and her sky blue eyes. Thinking about what she’d lost. The deafening silence overwhelming her. The stress eating her apart. Betrayed her loved ones. Both loathed and loved. Both powerful and weak. She was known as a goddess. But shouldn’t a goddess be loved by all? Little did they know that under the luxuriousness of these walls of the palace. Under the weight of each diamond and jewel the crown she wore held little did they know the darkness that sparked behind them. The sacrifices that had to be made. The pain she’d caused. The hurt she’d gone she fought. Though she held her jurisdiction of her land.

But she knew she should fight. Which was why the crown should win. The Crown must always Win.


The state of New York needed a revamp for the station and they needed it fast. A replacement building called Madison Square Garden was devised. This was an ideal business solution for both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the city. The railroad would move underground and open up the site for a new commercial complex. This significantly cut its overhead costs and fashioned a modern new image for itself. This new building was designed to be the largest single building area in Manhattan. The Old Penn State was to be demolished and construction began shortly after. New Yorkers did not bat an eye as historic preservation simply wasn’t a concern. It had not yet occurred to most New Yorkers that certain structures might be worthy of public protection. Especially a structure of valued historical significance.

The Old Penn Station’s construction and demolition play an important role in illustrating New York City’s attitude toward historic preservation between the 1960s and the 1990s. Today, NYC is synonymous with historic preservation. Architects and citizens alike are vocal about demolishing a historical monument. However, as indicated by the Penn station this was untrue in the period of 1960-1990s.


During his time in the “tiger cage”, Tho suffered from hunger, heat, and humiliation. Together with other Vietnamese Communist prisoners, Tho studied literature, science, foreign languages and acted in Moliere plays. Despite being imprisoned by the French, France was still regarded as the “land of culture”, and the prisoners paid a “peculiar tribute” to French culture by putting on Moliere plays.