“I was not born knowing; I value what came before and seek knowledge diligently.” The sentence appears in Shu Er, a chapter of the Analects. Confucius denies that he possessed knowledge from birth. He describes himself as valuing earlier learning and actively seeking it. Here, min points towards eagerness and diligence, not merely modern notions of intelligence.
This is an account of his way of learning, not a claim that everything ancient is correct. Valuing the past still has to be joined to questioning, selection and practice. Its contemporary value is not to belittle talent, but to resist the phrase “he simply knew” when it erases the process by which understanding formed. Admitting that knowledge must be sought also makes not knowing a place from which learning can begin, rather than a defect that must be hidden.
https://ctext.org/analects/shu-er/ens
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