1) True Student

Do you think there is a true man in the world? It's a question. A miserable man cannot be a true man, can he? You like gold, don't you? Do you want pure gold, or alloyed gold mixed with another metal? [Pure gold] If anyone would call some mixed gold pure gold, you would hate him. The pure gold must be 100 percent in the degree of purity.

When you add pure gold to pure gold, it is still pure gold. But gold mixed with a little of another metal and pure gold will become alloyed gold. No matter how much pure gold you add to the pure gold, it is still pure gold. But in case you add even a little artificial gold to the pure gold, it is needless to say that all the gold, even the original gold, would become alloyed gold. When you think of it, are you sure to find a true man? Raise your hand if you think you are.

You there are students. When you say "he is a true student," the word "true" has only a general meaning. You should know this. The "true man" commonly mentioned means only a man a little better than usual men. When a boy may look a little better than the others among the students in a village, you commonly say that he is a "true student." Therefore, the word "true" you speak every day doesn't have any absolute meaning. (41-171)

When you say any student is the "truest student" among all the other students, you mean it only in that school. The school has its past and future as well. Then can you say the true student represents those of its past? Furthermore, can he be the utmost true student among all the students of the various schools, or of the uncountable students in the future? Nobody can be confident enough to answer this. When you say, "We officially recognize that this man is the true man not only in the village but also throughout Korea," can he really represent the past, present, and future together? It's a question. (40-306)

When you say a "true student," what else does he have to forget to be the "true student"? In case he went to the library with about ten friends, he should be such a student who plunges into the study with a dreadful zest forgetting even that he is studying, whether it is night or day, or lunchtime. Such a student who forgets everything except his study can become a "true student." Wherever you go you should live on true love.

Even if beaten and kicked by your elder brother, you could forget it. If you were beaten by him here at this corner, you should, even though you have not recovered from being beaten, be able to follow him there to that corner, saying, "Where are you going, brother? Let me go with you." Such a person could be a true brother. (174-281)