[00:11.23]If the past has taught us anything, it is that every cause brings effect - every action has a consequence.
[00:19.30]This thought, in my opinion, is the moral foundation of the universe; it applies equally in this world and the next.
[00:27.12]We Chinese have a saying: “If a man plants melons, he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans.”
[00:37.02]And this is true of every man’s life: good begets good, and evil leads to evil.
[00:43.93]True enough, the sun shines on the saint and sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked wax and prosper.
[00:53.02]But we can say with certitude that, with the individual as with the nation,
[00:58.31]the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for, unceasingly, life keeps books on us all.
[01:06.20]In the end, we are all the sum total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited,
[01:12.39]nor can it be put on and cast off as if it were a garment to meet the whim of the moment.
[01:17.66]Like the markings on wood which are ingrained in the very heart of the tree,
[01:22.62]character requires time and nurture for growth and development.
[01:27.45]Thus also, day by day, we write our own destiny, for inexorably we become what we do.
[01:35.29]This, I believe, is the supreme logic and the law of life.
