Riches And Honours Acquired By
Unrighteousness, Are To Me As A Floating Cloud.'
CHAP.
XVI.
The Master said, 'If some years were added to my
life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi, and then I might come
to be without great faults.'
CHAP. XVII The Master's frequent themes of discourse were -
the Odes, the History, and the maintenance of the Rules of
Propriety. On all these he frequently discoursed.
CHAP. XVIII. 1. The Duke of Sheh asked Tsze-lu about
Confucius, and Tsze-lu did not answer him.
2. The Master said, 'Why did you not say to him, - He is
simply a man, who in his eager pursuit (of knowledge) forgets his
food, who in the joy of its attainment forgets his sorrows, and who
does not perceive that old age is coming on?'
CHAP. XIX. The Master said, 'I am not one who was born in
the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and
earnest in seeking it there.'
CHAP. XX. The subjects on which the Master did not talk,
were - extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and
spiritual beings.
CHAP. XXI. The Master said, 'When I walk along with two
others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good
qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them.'
CHAP. XXII. The Master said, 'Heaven produced the virtue
that is in me. Hwan T'ui - what can he do to me?'
CHAP. XXIII. The Master said, 'Do you think, my disciples, that
I have any concealments? I conceal nothing from you. There is
nothing which I do that is not shown to you, my disciples; - that is
my way.'
CHAP. XXIV. There were four things which the Master
taught, - letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and truthfulness.
CHAP. XXV. 1. The Master said, 'A sage it is not mine to see;
could I see a man of real talent and virtue, that would satisfy me.'
2. The Master said, 'A good man it is not mine to see; could I
see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me.
3. 'Having not and yet affecting to have, empty and yet
affecting to be full, straitened and yet affecting to be at ease: - it is
difficult with such characteristics to have constancy.'
CHAP. XXVI. The Master angled, - but did not use a net. He
shot, - but not at birds perching.
CHAP. XXVII. The Master said, 'There may be those who act
without knowing why. I do not do so. Hearing much and selecting
what is good and following it; seeing much and keeping it in
memory: - this is the second style of knowledge.'
CHAP. XXVIII. 1. It was difficult to talk (profitably and
reputably) with the people of Hu-hsiang, and a lad of that place
having had an interview with the Master, the disciples doubted.
2. The Master said, 'I admit people's approach to me without
committing myself as to what they may do when they have retired.
Why must one be so severe? If a man purify himself to wait upon
me, I receive him so purified, without guaranteeing his past
conduct.'
CHAP. XXIX. The Master said, 'Is virtue a thing remote? I wish
to be virtuous, and lo! virtue is at hand.'
CHAP. XXX. 1. The minister of crime of Ch'an asked whether
the duke Chao knew propriety, and Confucius said, 'He knew
propriety.'
2. Confucius having retired, the minister bowed to Wu-ma Ch'i
to come forward, and said, 'I have heard that the superior man is
not a partisan. May the superior man be a partisan also? The prince
married a daughter of the house of Wu, of the same surname with
himself, and called her, - "The elder Tsze of Wu." If the prince
knew propriety, who does not know it?'
3. Wu-ma Ch'i reported these remarks, and the Master said, 'I
am fortunate! If I have any errors, people are sure to know them.'
CHAP. XXXI. When the Master was in company with a person
who was singing, if he sang well, he would make him repeat the
song, while he accompanied it with his own voice.
CHAP. XXXII. The Master said, 'In letters I am perhaps equal
to other men, but the character of the superior man, carrying out in
his conduct what he professes, is what I have not yet attained to.'
CHAP. XXXIII. The Master said, 'The sage and the man of
perfect virtue; - how dare I rank myself with them? It may simply
be said of me, that I strive to become such without satiety, and
teach others without weariness.' Kung-hsi Hwa said, 'This is just
what we, the disciples, cannot imitate you in.'
CHAP. XXXIV. The Master being very sick, Tsze-lu asked leave
to pray for him. He said, 'May such a thing be done?' Tsze-lu
replied, 'It may. In the Eulogies it is said, "Prayer has been made
for thee to the spirits of the upper and lower worlds."' The Master
said, 'My praying has been for a long time.'
CHAP. XXXV. The Master said, 'Extravagance leads to
insubordination, and parsimony to meanness. It is better to be
mean than to be insubordinate.'
CHAP. XXXVI. The Master said, 'The superior man is satisfied
and composed; the mean man is always full of distress.'
CHAP. XXXVII. The Master was mild, and yet dignified;
majestic, and yet not fierce; respectful, and yet easy.
BOOK VIII. T'AI-PO.
CHAP. I. The Master said, 'T'ai-po may be said to have
reached the highest point of virtuous action. Thrice he declined the
kingdom, and the people in ignorance of his motives could not
express their approbation of his conduct.'
CHAP. II. 1. The Master said, 'Respectfulness, without the
rules of propriety, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without
the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules
of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness,
without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.
2.
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