Bulletin Number Five 1983

This spirit, it may be said, is a condition for upholding the sense o f responsibility which I spoke about earlier. For society as a whole, the more there are o f people who have a sense o f responsibility and the spirit o f enterprise, the more hope there is for society. In fact, the improvement and reformation o f any society require the powerful thrust o f a strong motive force which is borne o f the spirit o f enterprise. Only then w ill progress be made. The inculcation o f a sense o f responsibility and the spirit o f enterprise can begin w ith a m inority o f people making the effort self­ consciously. When this m inority is able to exert influence on the majority, thereby creating a new climate, the force o f change —the motive force for reforming society —w ill come into play. Therefore, a sense o f responsibility and the spirit o f enterprise are important not only to the individual, but also for the future o f society as a whole. Albert Camus, the French existentialist philosopher, said in his famous work The Rebel ， 'A ll campaigns against inequality which do not bear responsibility towards the public outside the campaign w ill itse lf become an even stronger force o f inequality.' This statement epitomises the importance o f a sense o f responsibility in social evolution. In The Book o f Changes was written the well-known dictum, ‘Heaven is robust in its progress. Thus the gentleman unceasingly renews his own strength.' To renew one's own strength and to improve oneself unceasingly is what I mean by the spirit o f enterprise. In laying their respective emphasis on a sense o f responsibility and the spirit o f enterprise, Camus and the Confucians o f old both give support to what I am saying to you today. So far I have, perhaps, made no more than a few commonsensical observations but, nonetheless, they are observations which have a serious bearing on the development o f civilization. I feel it important that you should, as you are leaving the University, reflect earnestly on what I have said. NEWS 13