Learning from Models
Emulating exemplary people in one's moral development.
Studying and emulating worthy persons accelerates moral development. The classics preserve examples; contemporary exemplars also serve as models. Learning from others' virtue is efficient cultivation.
When you see a worthy person, think of becoming their equal.
Models provide concrete examples of virtue.
Analects
Written about in
- What Confucianism says about failure
See a worthy person and think of becoming their equal; see an unworthy one and examine yourself. Both directions of comparison are converted into work on yourself rather than a verdict on them.