But I say: Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart". Studying this quote and the one before, it can also be said that many of Jesus" preaching's are rather idealistic and somewhat unachievable. An ideal man might be capable of suppressing his actions, but no human, however upright, faithful or modest can suppress or control what he/she is thinking. It is true that many of Jesus" teachings would undeniably benefit our society today, but the achievability of some of his expectations can be seen as questionable.
For Confucius, his viewpoints are more philosophical; he had no intention of starting a religion. However, Confucius did have a set of principles that according to him, would structure the ideal man. He called this concept or set of properties jen. "A person who possesses five virtues may be said to have possessed jen They are reverence, kindness, sincerity, sagacity and generosity". From this it can be seen that Confucius was also in favor of a more peaceful, simple lifestyle. Similarly, when describing a model leader, he says: "Let him honor the five excellent, and banish away the four bad", the five excellent being "when the person in authority is beneficent without great expenditure, when he lays tasks on the people without their repining, when he pursues what he desires without being covetous, when he maintains a dignified ease without being proud, when he is majestic without being fierce" and the four bad being: cruelty, oppression, injury and "acting the part of a mere official". Studying these qualities of the ideal leader, one can see similarities between Confucius" ideal leader and his ideal man of jen. Both must be fair, generous and selfless people. From the previous quote however, one can also see an example of the concept "moderation" which was prominent in many of Confucius" teachings.
