A Single Thread
Wisdom from Confucius Applied to the Reading Life
I think I may have stumbled upon an ancient reading tip from the wisdom of Confucius. Read Statement 15.3 from The Analects below and keep in mind that “The Master” is Confucius and “Zigong” is one of his main disciples:
The Master said, “Si [Zigong], do you think I am the sort of person who learns many things and who retains this knowledge in his mind?”
Zigong replied, “Yes. Is it not so?”
“No. I bind it together into a single thread.”
“I Bind it Together into a Single Thread.”
Confucius did not try to remember everything he learned. Instead, he tried to bind the knowledge into a single thread. There’s debate about what that thread was. Scholars think it could have been his Silver Rule (“Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you”), putting knowledge into practice, or never swerving from the path.
Whatever it was, I think Confucius’ insight here is fascinating. Is there a central idea or statement that can help you bind knowledge together throughout your lifetime of learning?
I think I’ve been unknowingly weaving my reading journey into a single thread over the past 8 years. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Direction and how I’ve seen it pop up in all sorts of literature. It’s the single most important idea I’ve come across. And not just on an intellectual level. It’s deeply impacted my life. I think about it constantly and look for it in what I read.
But it also helps me to remember what I read. Every book that provides more insight on direction is seared in my mind. Every work of fiction where I get to watch the direction of someone’s life becomes a case study on the topic. Every work of non-fiction talking about a path, daily decisions, or means vs ends provides knowledge I’m binding together. I remember how those books related to the single thread of direction.
What’s great is that you may read the same books I do and come away with a completely different thread that binds them all together.
This doesn’t mean you can only come away with one single thread from all your reading. I keep a list of Important Ideas I come across, and they don’t all relate to direction. But direction certainly is the most important, and one that can stitch together many of the books I’ve read for this project.
Do you have a single thread that ties all you read together? Maybe it’s an idea you look for, a central statement you see pop up over and over, or a concept that encapsulates volumes. If you do, please share it below. I’m curious if others view their reading retention through this prism.
Here’s my podcast episode from last week where I covered The Analects of Confucius and shared about this Single Thread idea:
