The real sting here lies in Confucius's accusation of *insistence*—he's not saying complexity happens to us, but that we actively choose it, often while claiming we have no choice. Most people blame their circumstances for their tangles, yet Confucius suggests the knot is partly self-inflicted, born from our hunger to appear capable or our fear of seeming simple. Watch how someone turns a straightforward disagreement with a friend into a months-long grudge by introducing conditions, explanations, and interpretations—the original hurt was simple, but pride insists on elaboration. What makes this different from mere simplicity-is-good advice is that it points fingers at our own complicity in the mess we're swimming through.