As Confucius lived over 2000 years ago, one might assume that his ideas might be archaic and useless in today's society. This, however, is far from the truth. Confucius' ideas and thoughts can still be applied today. This is also the case within government. Confucius' views on humanity (jen) and government by personal virtue can be useful in governing a modern society. Jen is one of the most fundamental Confucian virtues, and it is also an essential term in Confucian thought. The word jen is mainly translated as humanity, but sometimes as kindness or love. Confucius has many quotes about humanity that apply to government, even in a modern society (Change and Tradition 33). A quote from the Analects on Humanity that applies to government is: “To be able to practice five virtues anywhere in the world. constitutes humanity…courtesy, magnanimity, good faith, diligence and kindness. He who is courteous is not humiliated, he who is magnanimous wins the multitude, he who is in good faith has the trust of the people, he who is diligent achieves his goal, and he who is kind can obtain the service of the people. (Change and Tradition 34). This quote tells how a leader can gain support and trust, achieve his goals, and earn the service of his people, simply by being human. According to Confucius, a human person is magnanimous or generous and forgiving. If a modern leader were generous and forgiving, Confucius would say he would gain the support of the masses. Furthermore, if the leader was in good faith, then he would be trusted. Diligence would enable a ruler to achieve his goal, and kindness would lead the people to serve him. According to the Confucius quote, have and display the five aspects of humanity... in the middle of a sheet... because they can. Likewise, just because a leader is not righteous does not mean that no one will follow him. as Confucius maintains. Take for example Nazi Germany. Few would argue that Hitler was an honest man, but millions followed his orders. Confucius' quote is good in nature, but its absoluteness is questionable. Many aspects of Confucian thought could be useful in governing a modern society. Some of these include Confucius' views on humanity (jen) and government by personal virtue. Although these views offer good characteristics of a leader and how a leader should rule, some of them are written in absolute terms. This is the difficulty of using Confucianism in a modern society. Although written absolutely, many of his quotes are not truly so. Either way, modern government could greatly benefit from Confucius' views..