The Analects

1.1 The Master said: "To learn something and practice it at the right times — isn't that a pleasure? To have friends arrive from far away — isn't that a joy? To stay calm when others don't notice you — that's what a good person does."

1.2 Youzi said: "It's rare for someone who respects his parents and elders to talk back to authority. And no one who respects authority goes looking for trouble. A good person works on the foundation: when the foundation is solid, the way of living grows from it. Respect for family is that foundation."

1.3 The Master said: "Smooth talk and a practiced smile rarely go with real goodness."

1.4 Zengzi said: "Every day I check myself on three things: Was I dependable in my work for others? Was I honest with my friends? Did I practice what I was taught?"

1.5 The Master said: "To run a big state: take your duties seriously, keep your word, spend carefully, care for the people, and don't make them work at the wrong times."

1.6 The Master said: "Young people should respect parents at home, respect elders outside, be careful and honest, care about everyone, and stay close to good people. If they still have energy left, then they should study."

1.7 Zixia said: "Value character over looks; do your utmost for your parents; give yourself fully to your work; be true to your word with friends. Even if people call that person uneducated, I'd say they're educated."

1.8 The Master said: "Without self-respect there's no authority, and learning won't stick. Put loyalty and honesty first. Choose friends who are your equals in that. When you're wrong, don't be afraid to fix it."

1.9 Zengzi said: "Take funerals seriously and honor the ancestors, and people's morals become deeper and kinder."

1.10 Ziqin asked Zigong: "Wherever the Master goes, he learns how the place is governed. Does he ask, or is it offered?" Zigong said: "He gets it by being warm, kind, respectful, frugal, and humble. His way of asking is different from everyone else's."

1.11 The Master said: "While the father is alive, watch what the son wants; after the father dies, watch what he does. If for three years he keeps his father's ways, he's a good son."

1.12 Youzi said: "In following tradition, harmony is what matters most. The old kings ran everything that way, big and small. But harmony by itself, without proper form, won't work."

1.13 Youzi said: "A promise that's fair is a promise you can keep. Respect shown the right way keeps you out of trouble. Stick by your family, and people can rely on you."

1.14 The Master said: "A good person doesn't chase rich food or a fancy home. They act fast, speak carefully, and go to good people to fix their faults. That's loving to learn."

1.15 Zigong said: "Poor but not fawning, rich but not arrogant — how's that?" The Master said: "Fine, but better: poor yet cheerful, rich yet courteous." Zigong said: "Like the poem: 'cut, filed, carved, polished'?" The Master said: "Now I can really talk poetry with you — show you one corner and you see the other three."

1.16 The Master said: "Don't worry that people don't understand you; worry that you don't understand them."

2.1 The Master said: "Governing by goodness is like the North Star: it stays put and all the other stars circle it."

2.2 The Master said: "Three hundred poems — but one line sums them up: 'No crooked thoughts.'"

2.3 The Master said: "Rule with laws and punishments, and people avoid trouble but feel no shame. Lead with goodness and proper tradition, and they feel shame and correct themselves."

2.4 The Master said: "At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At thirty I stood firm. At forty I had no doubts. At fifty I knew what heaven wanted of me. At sixty my ear was tuned. At seventy I could follow my heart without crossing the line."

2.5 Meng Yizi asked about being a good son. The Master said: "Never disobey." Later, with Fan Chi driving, he added: "Meng Sun asked me about being a good son, and I said, 'Never disobey.'" Fan Chi asked what that meant. The Master said: "While your parents live, serve them the proper way; when they die, bury and honor them the proper way."

2.6 Meng Wu asked about being a good son. The Master said: "Just let your parents worry about your health — nothing else."

2.7 Ziyou asked about being a good son. The Master said: "These days it means feeding them. But you feed dogs and horses too. Without respect, what's the difference?"

2.8 Zixia asked about being a good son. The Master said: "Keeping a pleasant face is the hard part. Doing chores and handing food to elders first — would even that count without the right spirit?"

2.9 The Master said: "I can talk to Hui all day and he never argues, like someone slow. But watch what he does afterward — he gets the point. He's not slow at all."

2.10 The Master said: "Watch what a man does, see the path that brought him here, find what he's comfortable with — can he hide? Can anyone hide?"

2.11 The Master said: "Studying the old to understand the new — such a person can teach others."

2.12 The Master said: "A good person isn't a tool with one job."

2.13 Zigong asked about being a good person. The Master said: "Do it first; talk about it after."

2.14 The Master said: "A good person doesn't take sides blindly; a small person can't be counted on for teamwork."

2.15 The Master said: "Learning without thinking is wasted effort; thinking without learning is dangerous."

2.16 The Master said: "Making study the be-all and end-all is truly dangerous."

2.17 The Master said: "Shall I teach you what knowing is? Say you know when you know, say you don't when you don't — that's knowing."

2.18 Zhangxue asked about getting ahead. The Master said: "Hear a lot, drop the doubtful stuff, speak carefully about the rest — few mistakes. See a lot, drop the risky stuff, act carefully on the rest — few regrets. Few mistakes in speech, few regrets in action: there's your career."

2.19 Duke Ai asked: "How do I get people to obey?" Confucius said: "Promote the honest over the crooked, and people obey. Promote the crooked over the honest, and they won't."

2.20 Ji Kangzi asked how to make people respectful and loyal. The Master said: "Take them seriously and they'll be respectful. Be a good son and kind, and they'll be loyal. Promote good people and train the unskilled, and they'll be moved."

2.21 Someone asked Confucius: "Why don't you go into government?" The Master said: "The old records say: 'Be a good son and brother — that IS governing.' That's government too. Why must you hold an office to govern?"

2.22 The Master said: "A person nobody can trust — I don't know how they get by. A big cart without a yoke-bar, a small cart without a collar-bar — how do you even move them?"

2.23 Zizhang asked: "Can we predict ten generations ahead?" The Master said: "The Yin adapted the Xia rites — we know what they added and dropped. The Zhou adapted the Yin rites — we know that too. So even a hundred generations from now, we can predict it the same way."

2.24 The Master said: "Honoring spirits that aren't yours is flattery. Seeing what's right and not doing it is cowardice."

3.1 Confucius said of the Ji family: "They dance with eight rows of dancers in their own courtyard — an honor reserved for kings. If they'll do that, what won't they do?"

3.2 The Three Families used the royal hymn at their ancestral rites. The Master said: "'The lords assist; the king presides' — what does that line mean in their family halls?"

3.3 The Master said: "Without real goodness in a person, what's the point of ritual? Without goodness, what's the point of music?"

3.4 Lin Fang asked what ritual is really about. The Master said: "Big question! In ritual, simple beats lavish. In mourning, real grief beats ceremony."

3.5 The Master said: "Even the tribes of the north and east have their rulers; the states of central China are losing theirs."

3.6 The Ji family held a sacrifice meant only for the Lord of Mount Tai. The Master asked Ran You: "Can't you stop this?" Ran You said: "I can't." The Master said: "What a pity! Does the mountain god really accept this — is he less discerning than you?"

3.7 The Master said: "A gentleman never fights unfairly — but what about archery? They bow and yield going up; coming down they drink together. Even their contest is gentlemanly."

3.8 Zixia asked about the poem line: "'Her sweet smile dimpled, her lovely eyes so clear — the plain ground for the painted colors.' What's that about?" The Master said: "The plain ground comes first; painting after." Zixia said: "So tradition comes after goodness?" The Master said: "Shang, you've lifted my meaning. Now we can really discuss poetry."

3.9 The Master said: "I can describe the Xia rites, but their state of Qi can't confirm them. I can describe the Yin rites, but Song can't confirm them. When records and learned men are gone, the proof is gone."

3.10 The Master said: "From the moment the wine offering starts at the great sacrifice, I'd rather watch nothing more."

3.11 Someone asked what the great sacrifice means. The Master said: "No one knows. Whoever understood it would see the whole world as clearly as this" — pointing at his palm.

3.12 "Sacrifice as if the spirit were present" — sacrifice to the spirits as if they stood there. The Master said: "If I'm not truly there in heart, I haven't sacrificed at all."

3.13 Wangsun Jia asked: "They say: 'Win over the kitchen god, and the hearth answers better than the ancestral shrine.' What do you say?" The Master said: "Wrong. If you've offended Heaven, there is nowhere left to pray."

3.14 The Master said: "The Zhou looked back at two dynasties and made something radiant. I follow Zhou."

3.15 Entering the Grand Temple, the Master asked about everything. Someone sneered: "Who says the man from Zou knows ritual? He asks about everything in there!" The Master heard and said: "Asking carefully IS the rite."

3.16 The Master said: "In archery, piercing the target isn't everything — some lack the strength for it. The ancients shot that way."

3.17 Zigong wanted to drop the sacrificial lamb at the new-moon rite. The Master said: "Ci, you hate losing the lamb; I hate losing the rite."

3.18 The Master said: "Serve your ruler with full ritual, and people will call it flattery."

3.19 Duke Ding asked how a ruler should use ministers and how ministers should serve. Confucius said: "A ruler uses ritual; a minister serves with loyalty."

3.20 The Master said: "The Guanju poem: joy without going too far, sadness without harm."

3.21 Duke Ai asked Zai Wo about altars to the god of the land. Zai Wo said: "The Xia used pines, the Yin cypresses, the Zhou chestnuts — chestnut meaning 'make the people tremble.'" The Master said, hearing this: "Don't redo what's done; don't reargue what's over; don't blame what's past."

3.22 The Master said: "Guan Zhong was a man of small capacity!" "Was he frugal?" "He kept three separate households and staffed every post twice over — frugal?" "Did he know ritual then?" "Kings screen their gates with trees; so did he. Kings keep the wine-stand for toasts; so did he. If Guan Zhong knew ritual, who doesn't?"

3.23 Explaining music to the court music master of Lu, the Master said: "Music can be understood: it begins in unison; then it opens out, clear and flowing; then it carries on, and ends."

3.24 The border warden of Yi asked to see Confucius: "Gentlemen have always stopped here and been received." The disciples introduced him. On leaving he said: "Don't worry that he's out of office. The world has long lost its way; Heaven intends your Master as the clapper for the bell."

3.25 The Master said of the Shao music: "Perfectly beautiful, and perfectly good." Of the Wu: "Perfectly beautiful, not perfectly good."

3.26 The Master said: "High rank without generosity; ritual without reverence; mourning without grief — how could I bear to look at that?"

4.1 The Master said: "A good neighborhood is beautiful. If you don't choose to live among good people, how can you be wise?"

4.2 The Master said: "Without goodness, no one can bear hardship for long or enjoy comfort for long. Good people rest in goodness; wise people use it well."

4.3 Only a truly good person knows whom to love and whom to dislike.

4.4 Set your heart firmly on goodness, and no evil can reach you.

4.5 Everyone wants wealth and rank — but get them wrongly and don't accept them. Everyone hates poverty and low status — but get out of them wrongly and don't. A good person who abandons goodness — how could he deserve the name? He doesn't leave it even for one meal: in a rush, he holds to it; in a crisis, he holds to it.

4.6 The Master said: "I've never seen anyone who truly loves goodness or truly hates evil. One who loved goodness would value nothing above it. One who hated evil would live so well that no evil could touch him. Could someone hold to goodness for even one day? I've never seen their strength fail. Maybe such people exist; I've never met one."

4.7 The Master said: "Faults show what kind of person you are. Look at someone's mistakes and you know them."

4.8 The Master said: "Hear the truth in the morning, and you can die in peace that evening."

4.9 The Master said: "A scholar set on the truth who's ashamed of shabby clothes and plain food — not worth listening to."

4.10 The Master said: "In dealing with the whole world, a good person doesn't automatically favor or oppose anyone; he stands with what's right."

4.11 A good person thinks about what's right; a small person thinks about what pays.

4.12 People who chase profit collect enemies.

4.13 The Master said: "With courtesy, respect, and self-control you can run a state — what's the trouble? Without them, how could you even do the ceremonies?"

4.14 The Master said: "Don't worry about not having a job; worry about being unfit for one. Don't worry that nobody knows you; become worth knowing."

4.15 The Master said: "Shen! My teaching has one thread through it all." Zengzi said: "Yes." When the Master left, the students asked what he meant. Zengzi said: "His teaching is loyalty and compassion. That's all."

4.16 A good person understands what's right; a small person understands what's profitable.

4.17 The Master said: "When you see a worthy person, think of matching them. When you see an unworthy one, look inside yourself."

4.18 The Master said: "Serving your parents: gently correct them. If they don't listen, stay respectful and don't turn against them. Keep helping, without bitterness."

4.19 The Master said: "While your parents live, don't travel far away. If you must, keep a fixed route."

4.20 If for three years a son doesn't change his father's ways, he's a good son.

4.21 The Master said: "Know your parents' age: joy on one side, fear on the other."

4.22 The Master said: "The ancients spoke little, afraid their actions wouldn't match their words."

4.23 The Master said: "Those who keep themselves in check rarely go wrong."

4.24 The Master said: "Be slow to speak, quick to act."

4.25 Goodness never stands alone; neighbors always gather.

4.26 Ziyou said: "Pushing your boss too hard gets you fired; pushing your friend too hard loses the friendship."

5.1 The Master said about Gongye Chang: "He'd make a good husband. He was locked up once, but he hadn't done anything wrong." So he married his daughter to him.

5.2 The Master said about Nan Rong: "When the country is run well, he keeps his job; when the country is a mess, he still stays out of prison." So he married his brother's daughter to him.

5.3 The Master said about Zijian: "Now there's a real gentleman! If Lu had no gentlemen at all, where would he have learned to be one?"

5.4 Zigong asked: "What about me?" The Master said: "You're a vessel." "What kind?" "A precious ritual vessel."

5.5 Someone said: "Yong is good-hearted, but he can't talk well." The Master said: "Why does he need to talk well? People who argue others down with slick talk usually just get hated. I can't say he's good-hearted, but why does he need to talk well?"

5.6 The Master told Qidiao Kai to take a government job. He answered: "I'm not confident enough in myself yet." The Master was pleased.

5.7 The Master said: "If my way doesn't get anywhere, I'll get on a raft and drift out to sea. The one who'd come with me would be You, wouldn't it?" Zilu heard this and was thrilled. The Master said: "You loves bravery more than I do — but there's no wood to build it with."

5.8 Meng Wu asked: "Is Zilu good-hearted?" The Master said: "I don't know." He asked again. The Master said: "You could run the taxes for a big state of a thousand chariots — but I don't know if he's good-hearted." "What about Qiu?" "Qiu could be the manager of a town of a thousand families, or of a great family with a hundred chariots — but I don't know if he's good-hearted." "What about Chi?" "Chi could stand in court in his sash and talk with guests — but I don't know if he's good-hearted."

5.9 The Master said to Zigong: "Who's better, you or Hui?" He answered: "How could I dare compare myself to Hui? Hui hears one thing and understands ten; I hear one thing and understand two." The Master said: "You're not as good as he is. You and I both are not."

5.10 Zai Yu napped in the daytime. The Master said: "Rotten wood can't be carved. A wall of dung can't be whitewashed. What's the point of scolding Yu?" The Master said: "At first I took people at their word and trusted their actions. Now I listen to their words and watch their actions. Yu is the reason I changed."

5.11 The Master said: "I've never met a really strong person." Someone said: "Shen Cheng." The Master said: "Cheng is full of cravings — how could he be strong?"

5.12 Zigong said: "I don't want people doing things to me, so I don't want to do them to others." The Master said: "Ci, that's beyond you."

5.13 Zigong said: "We can hear the Master's learning and his style. We can't hear him talk about human nature or the way heaven works."

5.14 When Zilu heard something, if he hadn't yet put it into practice, he was afraid of hearing something else.

5.15 Zigong asked: "Why was Kong Wenzi given the name 'Wen' — the Cultured One?" The Master said: "He was quick and loved learning, and he wasn't embarrassed to ask people below him. That's why he got the name 'Wen.'"

5.16 The Master said about Zichan: "He had four gentlemanly qualities: he was humble in his own conduct, respectful to his superiors, kind in caring for the people, and fair in how he used them."

5.17 The Master said: "Yan Pingzhong was great at keeping friends: the longer people knew him, the more they respected him."

5.18 The Master said: "Zang Wenzhong kept a huge sacred tortoise in a house with carved hill shapes on the beams and painted duckweed on the posts. What kind of smart is that?"

5.19 Zizhang asked: "Ziwen was made prime minister three times and never looked pleased; he was fired three times and never looked angry. He always briefed the new prime minister on the old policies. What do you think of him?" The Master said: "He was loyal." "Was he good-hearted?" "I can't say — how would that make him good-hearted?" "When Cui murdered the prince of Qi, Chen Wenzi had ten chariots of horses and just walked away from them. Getting to one state he said, 'They're just like our big shot Cui,' and left. Getting to another, he said the same and left. What do you think of him?" The Master said: "He was clean." "Was he good-hearted?" "I can't say — how would that make him good-hearted?"

5.20 Ji Wenzi thought three times before acting. When the Master heard it he said: "Twice is enough."

5.21 The Master said: "Ning Wuzi was smart when the country was run well, and played dumb when it wasn't. Other people can match his smarts; nobody can match his playing dumb."

5.22 The Master, in Chen, said: "Let's go home! Let's go home! The young men back home are wild and bold, and they've made something beautiful — but they don't know how to cut it down to size."

5.23 The Master said: "Boyi and Shuqi didn't dwell on old grudges, so people rarely resented them."

5.24 The Master said: "Who says Weisheng Gao is honest? Someone asked him for vinegar and he went and asked his neighbor for it, then gave it away."

5.25 The Master said: "Slick talk, fake friendliness, and bowing way too much — Zuoqiu Ming was ashamed of that, and so am I. Hiding a grudge while acting like someone's friend — Zuoqiu Ming was ashamed of that, and so am I."

5.26 Yan Yuan and Zilu were sitting with him. The Master said: "Why don't you each say what you want to do?" Zilu said: "I'd share my carriages, horses, and nice furs with my friends, and not mind if they got wrecked." Yan Yuan said: "I'd want to never brag about what I'm good at, and never show off what I've done." Zilu said: "We'd like to hear what the Master wants." The Master said: "To give old people peace, friends trust, and young people someone to lean on."

5.27 The Master said: "That's it — I've never met anyone who sees their own mistake and takes themselves to court over it."

5.28 The Master said: "In a village of ten houses you'll find someone as loyal and trustworthy as I am. But not someone who loves learning as much."

6.1 The Master said: "Yong could take the ruler's seat."

6.2 Zhonggong asked about Zisang Bozi. The Master said: "He's fine — but too simple, maybe." Zhonggong said: "If you're serious inside and simple in how you act, and you're running people — isn't that fine? But if you're simple inside and simple outside too, isn't that too simple?" The Master said: "Yong said it right."

6.3 Duke Ai asked: "Which of your students loves learning?" Confucius said: "There was Yan Hui who loved learning. He never took his anger out on other people, and he never made the same mistake twice. Then he died young. Now there's nobody; I haven't heard of anyone who loves learning."

6.4 Zihua was sent to Qi, and Ran Qiu asked for grain for Zihua's mother. The Master said: "Give her a small measure." He asked for more. The Master said: "Give her a bigger measure." Ran Qiu gave her five big bundles. The Master said: "When Chi went to Qi he rode fat horses and wore light furs. I've heard it said: a gentleman helps people in need; he doesn't make the rich richer."

6.5 Yuan Si worked as his manager, and the Master gave him nine hundred measures of grain. He refused. The Master said: "Don't refuse — couldn't you share it with your neighbors and your village?"

6.6 The Master said about Zhonggong: "The calf of a plough ox, reddish-brown and with good horns — even if you don't want to use it, would the mountains and rivers turn it down?"

6.7 The Master said: "Hui — his heart stayed with goodness for three whole months. Everyone else manages a day or a month at most."

6.8 Ji Kangzi asked: "Could Zhongyou be put in government?" The Master said: "You is decisive — what would be hard about government for him?" "Could Ci be put in government?" "Ci is sharp — what would be hard about government for him?" "Could Qiu be put in government?" "Qiu has many skills — what would be hard about government for him?"

6.9 The Ji family wanted Min Ziqian to be governor of Bi. Min Ziqian said: "Turn them down nicely for me. If anyone comes asking again, I'll be way up north of the Wen River."

6.10 Bo Niu was sick, and the Master went to see him. He reached through the window and held his hand, saying: "We're losing him. This is fate. That a man like this should get a sickness like this! That a man like this should get a sickness like this!"

6.11 The Master said: "What a good man Hui was! One basket of rice, one gourd of water, living in a rough little alley — most people couldn't stand how miserable it is, and Hui never lost his happiness. What a good man Hui was!"

6.12 Ran Qiu said: "It's not that I don't like the Master's way — I just don't have the strength." The Master said: "People without strength give up halfway. You're drawing the line before you even start."

6.13 The Master said to Zixia: "Be a scholar of the gentleman's kind — not a scholar of the small man's kind."

6.14 Ziyou was governor of Wucheng. The Master said: "Have you found any good people there?" He said: "There's a Tantai Mieming — he never takes shortcuts, and he's never once come to my house except on official business."

6.15 The Master said: "Meng Zhifan never bragged. When the army was running away, he stayed at the back to cover them; and as he reached the gate he whipped his horse and said: 'I wasn't trying to be last — my horse just wouldn't run.'"

6.16 The Master said: "Without the slick tongue of a Zhu Tuo, and with the good looks of a Song Chao, it's hard to stay out of trouble these days."

6.17 The Master said: "Who can get out without going through the door? So why doesn't anyone use this road?"

6.18 The Master said: "Substance without polish makes you crude; polish without substance makes you a show-off. Substance and polish together — that makes a gentleman."

6.19 The Master said: "People are born honest. If a dishonest person survives, he's just lucky."

6.20 The Master said: "Knowing something is not as good as loving it; loving it is not as good as enjoying it."

6.21 The Master said: "You can talk about higher things with people above average. You can't talk about higher things with people below average."

6.22 Fan Chi asked what wisdom is. The Master said: "Work for what's right for the people; respect the spirits and gods but keep your distance — that's wisdom." He asked about goodness. The Master said: "A good person does the hard part first and takes the reward last — that's goodness."

6.23 The Master said: "Wise people love water; good people love mountains. Wise people are active; good people are calm. Wise people enjoy life; good people live long."

6.24 The Master said: "Let Qi change once and it would be like Lu; let Lu change once and it would reach the Way."

6.25 The Master said: "A cup that isn't a cup — is that a cup? Is that a cup?"

6.26 Zai Wo asked: "If you told a good person, 'Someone fell down a well,' would he jump in after them?" The Master said: "Why would he? You can send a gentleman to help, but you can't trap him. You can fool him for a moment, but you can't make a fool of him."

6.27 The Master said: "A gentleman learns widely and culture keeps him in line, and tradition keeps him from going off the rails."

6.28 The Master went to see Nanzi, and Zilu was not happy about it. The Master swore: "If I did anything wrong, may heaven hate me! May heaven hate me!"

6.29 The Master said: "The middle way is the highest kind of goodness — and people have been missing it for a long time."

6.30 Zigong said: "If someone gave hugely to the people and helped everybody, what would you say? Could you call that goodness?" The Master said: "That's more than goodness — that's being a sage! Even Yao and Shun couldn't manage it. A good person: if he wants to stand, he helps others stand; if he wants to get somewhere, he helps others get there. Being able to start from what's near you — that's the way to be good."

7.1 The Master said: "I pass on what was handed down; I don't invent. I trust the old ways and love them. I'd compare myself to our old Peng."

7.2 The Master said: "Keep it in mind quietly, learn without getting tired of it, teach people without getting worn out — what's hard about that for me?"

7.3 The Master said: "Not working on my character, not talking over what I've learned, hearing what's right and not following it, not fixing what's wrong with me — those are my worries."

7.4 When the Master was relaxing at home, he was easy and cheerful.

7.5 The Master said: "I've really gone downhill! It's been ages since I dreamed of the Duke of Zhou."

7.6 The Master said: "Aim at the Way, hold on to goodness, stay close to kindness, and enjoy the arts."

7.7 The Master said: "I've never refused to teach anyone who brought even a small gift of dried meat."

7.8 The Master said: "I don't explain things to someone who isn't struggling to get it; I don't help someone who isn't struggling to say it. If I show one corner and they can't figure out the other three, I don't go over it again."

7.9 When the Master ate next to someone in mourning, he never ate his fill.

7.10 On a day the Master had cried, he didn't sing.

7.11 The Master said to Yan Yuan: "When they use you, you act; when they don't, you keep it to yourself. Only you and I can do that." Zilu said: "If you were leading the army, who would you take?" The Master said: "Someone who wrestles tigers bare-handed and swims across rivers and dies without regret — I wouldn't take him. I'd take someone who's careful when things get serious and likes to plan, and gets it done."

7.12 The Master said: "If wealth could be gotten honestly, I'd do it, even as a guy holding a whip. But since it can't, I'll just do what I like."

7.13 The Master was careful about three things: fasting, war, and sickness.

7.14 When the Master was in Qi and heard the Shao music, for three months he didn't notice the taste of meat. He said: "I never imagined music could get that good."

7.15 Ran You said: "Does the Master support the prince of Wei?" Zigong said: "I'll go ask him." He went in and said: "What kind of men were Boyi and Shuqi?" The Master said: "Wise men of long ago." "Did they resent anything?" "They wanted to be good and they got there — what's to resent?" Zigong came out and said: "The Master doesn't support him."

7.16 The Master said: "Plain rice to eat, water to drink, your arm for a pillow — there's happiness right there. Wealth and rank that come from doing wrong are like clouds drifting by to me."

7.17 The Master said: "Give me a few more years, fifty years of study, and I could get past the big mistakes."

7.18 The Master used standard speech for the Odes, the Documents, and anything to do with ritual — always standard speech.

7.19 The Duke of She asked Zilu about Confucius, and Zilu didn't answer. The Master said: "Why didn't you say: he's a man who gets so into it he forgets to eat, gets so happy he forgets to worry, and never notices that he's getting old."

7.20 The Master said: "I wasn't born knowing things. I love the old ways and I work hard to find them out."

7.21 The Master didn't talk about: monsters, muscles, chaos, and spirits.

7.22 The Master said: "When three people walk together, one of them is my teacher. I pick out what's good in them and copy it; what's bad, I fix in myself."

7.23 The Master said: "Heaven gave me this goodness — what can Huan Tui do to me?"

7.24 The Master said: "Do you think I'm hiding something from you? I'm not hiding anything. I do nothing that I don't do with you all — that's just who I am."

7.25 The Master taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and honesty.

7.26 The Master said: "I'll never get to meet a sage — meeting a gentleman would be enough." The Master said: "I'll never get to meet a truly good man — meeting someone steady would be enough. Pretending to have what you don't have, pretending to be full when you're empty, pretending to be rich when you're broke — it's hard to be steady like that."

7.27 The Master fished with a line, not a net; he hunted birds but never shot them while they were roosting.

7.28 The Master said: "There may be people who act without knowing; I'm not one of them. Hear a lot, pick out the good and follow it; see a lot and remember it — that's the next best thing to knowing."

7.29 The people of Huxiang were hard to talk to. A young guy from there came to see the Master and the students were confused. The Master said: "I'm for him coming in, not for pushing him out. Why be so harsh? When someone cleans themselves up and comes in, I accept the cleaning up; I don't guarantee their past."

7.30 The Master said: "Is goodness really far away? I want it, and it's here."

7.31 The Minister of Justice of Chen asked whether Duke Zhao knew ritual. Confucius said: "He knew ritual." After Confucius left, he bowed to Wuma Qi and said: "I've heard a gentleman doesn't take sides. Does a gentleman take sides? The duke married a woman from Wu — same family name — and called her Wu Mengzi. If he knows ritual, who doesn't?" Wuma Qi told the Master. The Master said: "I'm lucky: whenever I mess up, people are sure to hear about it."

7.32 When the Master sang with other people and they sang well, he always made them sing it again, and then he joined in.

7.33 The Master said: "In book learning, maybe I'm no better than anyone else. But actually living like a gentleman — I haven't managed that yet."

7.34 The Master said: "Sage and really good? How could I claim that? But working at it without getting sick of it, and teaching people without getting tired — that's fair to say of me." Gongxi Hua said: "That's exactly what we students can't do."

7.35 The Master got very sick and Zilu asked to pray for him. The Master said: "Is that a thing?" Zilu said: "Yes. The funeral prayers say: 'Pray to the spirits above and below.'" The Master said: "I've been praying for a long time."

7.36 The Master said: "Being extravagant makes you disrespectful; being cheap makes you stiff and stingy. Stingy is better than disrespectful."

7.37 The Master said: "A gentleman is relaxed and open. A small man is anxious all the time."

7.38 The Master was warm but firm, dignified but not fierce, respectful but comfortable.

8.1 The Master said: "Tai Bo — you could call him the highest kind of good. Three times he handed over the kingdom, and the people couldn't even find words to praise him."

8.2 The Master said: "Being polite without ritual turns into pointless effort; being careful without ritual turns into fear; being brave without ritual turns into chaos; being blunt without ritual turns into rudeness. When a gentleman cares deeply for his family, the people start being kind; when he doesn't forget old friends, the people stop being cold."

8.3 Zengzi was sick and called his students: "Look at my feet. Look at my hands. The Odes say: 'Shaking and trembling, like standing at the edge of a deep pit, like walking on thin ice.' And from now on I know I'm safe — my young friends!"

8.4 Zengzi was sick, and Meng Jingzi came to ask about him. Zengzi said: "When a bird is about to die, its cry is sad. When a person is about to die, their words are good. Three things a gentleman values in the Way: how he carries himself — keeping his temper and arrogance away; how his face looks — getting close to being trustworthy; how he speaks — keeping nastiness and nonsense away. As for the dishes and bowls, that's the staff's job."

8.5 Zengzi said: "Talented, yet asking the untalented. Knowledgeable, yet asking the ignorant. Having something as if he didn't. Full, but acting empty. Getting knocked around and not fighting back. An old friend of mine used to work at exactly that."

8.6 Zengzi said: "Someone you could hand an orphaned child of six feet to, someone you could hand a whole province's rule to, someone who can't be shaken when it really matters — is he a gentleman? He's a gentleman, all right."

8.7 Zengzi said: "A scholar has to be strong and tough — the load is heavy and the road is long. Being good is his load; isn't that heavy? It lasts until he dies; isn't that long?"

8.8 The Master said: "Start with the Odes, get steady with ritual, and finish with music."

8.9 The Master said: "The people can be made to follow it, but they can't be made to understand it."

8.10 The Master said: "Loving being brave and hating being poor — that's chaos. Hating a person without goodness too much — that's chaos too."

8.11 The Master said: "Even if someone had all the brains of the Duke of Zhou, if he was arrogant and stingy, the rest isn't worth looking at."

8.12 The Master said: "Someone who studies three years without thinking about a paycheck — that's rare."

8.13 The Master said: "Believe deeply, love learning, and hold on to the good Way till you die. Don't go into a state that's falling apart; don't live in a state that's in chaos. When the world is run well, show up; when it isn't, stay hidden. When your country is run well, being poor and low is a disgrace. When your country is a mess, being rich and important is a disgrace."

8.14 The Master said: "If it's not your job, don't stick your nose into it."

8.15 The Master said: "How the music opened with Master Zhi leading, and closed with the Guanju — it just poured into your ears!"

8.16 The Master said: "Wild but not honest, simple but not sincere, nice-looking but not trustworthy — I don't know what to do with people like that."

8.17 The Master said: "Study like you're trying to catch up, and even then you're afraid of losing what you've got."

8.18 The Master said: "How towering Shun and Yu were — they held the whole world and took nothing from it for themselves!"

8.19 The Master said: "How great Yao was as a ruler! Towering! Only heaven is great, and Yao made himself like it. So vast nobody could put a name to it. Towering were his achievements! Brilliant was his culture and order!"

8.20 King Wu said: "I have ten capable ministers." Confucius said: "Finding talent is hard — isn't it true? In the time of Tang and Yu there was the most. There was a woman among them, so nine men. He held two-thirds of the world and still served the Yin. The goodness of Zhou — you could call that the highest goodness."

8.21 The Master said: "I can't find a single fault with Yu. He ate and drank poorly but gave richly to the spirits; he wore cheap clothes but made his ceremonial robes and cap beautiful; he lived in a plain palace but spent his whole effort on drains and irrigation. I can't find a single fault with him."

9.1 The Master rarely talked about profit, about fate, or about goodness.

9.2 A man from Daxiang village said: "Confucius is great! He's learned about everything and hasn't made a name in anything." The Master heard it and said to his students: "What should I be good at? Driving? Archery? I'll be a driver."

9.3 The Master said: "The hemp cap is the proper tradition, but these days they use silk, which is cheaper — I go along with the crowd on that. Bowing down below the hall is the proper tradition, but these days they bow up on the level of the hall, which is rude — even against the crowd, I bow down below."

9.4 The Master had none of four things: no jumping to conclusions, no musts, no stubbornness, no me-first.

9.5 The Master was in danger in Kuang. He said: "King Wen is dead — is the culture not right here with me? If heaven wanted to destroy this culture, someone like me couldn't have a share in it. And if heaven doesn't want to destroy it, what can the men of Kuang do to me?"

9.6 The Grand Minister asked Zigong: "Is your Master a sage? How is he good at so many things?" Zigong said: "Heaven clearly set him loose to be a sage, and he's good at lots of things." The Master heard and said: "The Grand Minister really knows me! I grew up poor, so I picked up a lot of lowly skills. Is a gentleman good at lots of things? Not really."

9.7 Lao said: "The Master said: 'I never got a real job, so I learned all these skills.'"

9.8 The Master said: "Do I actually know things? No, I know nothing. If a plain person asks me something, I'm empty. I just take his question by both ends until I've worked all of it out."

9.9 The Master said: "No phoenix comes; no chart comes out of the river. I'm finished."

9.10 When the Master saw someone in mourning clothes, or someone in ceremonial cap and robes, or a blind person — even if they were young, he would stand up; and if he passed them, he would hurry.

9.11 Yan Yuan sighed deeply: "The more I look up to it, the higher it gets. The harder I dig into it, the harder it gets. I see it in front of me, and suddenly it's behind me. The Master draws people along patiently: he opened my mind with learning, and kept me in line with tradition, and I couldn't stop. When I'd used up everything I had, there it stood, way above me. I want to follow it, but I've no way to get there."

9.12 The Master was very sick, and Zilu had the students act like his official attendants. When he got better he said: "You's been faking for a long time! Setting up attendants when I have no right to any. Who am I fooling — heaven? Anyway, I'd rather die in the hands of you two or three than in the hands of attendants. And even if I don't get a big funeral, is it likely I'll die in the street?"

9.13 Zigong said: "If there was a beautiful piece of jade here, would you box it up and keep it, or look for a good buyer and sell it?" The Master said: "Sell it! Sell it! I'm the one waiting for the buyer."

9.14 The Master wanted to go live among the nine barbarian tribes. Someone said: "They're crude. How could you?" The Master said: "If a gentleman lived there, how would it be crude?"

9.15 The Master said: "After I came back from Wei to Lu, I set the music right, and the ceremonial and praise songs each found their proper place."

9.16 The Master said: "Out in the world serving rulers and officials, at home serving parents and older brothers, not slacking at funerals, and not letting wine knock me over — what's hard about that for me?"

9.17 The Master, standing by a river, said: "It goes on like this, never stopping, day or night."

9.18 The Master said: "I've never met anyone who loves goodness the way they love good looks."

9.19 The Master said: "Say you're building a hill — one basketful short of finishing, and you stop: that's me stopping. Say you're filling in level ground — and you dump in just one basketful and keep going: that's me moving forward."

9.20 The Master said: "The one who listens to me and never slacks off — that's Hui, isn't it?"

9.21 The Master said about Yan Yuan: "What a shame! I watched him going forward; I never saw him stop."

9.22 The Master said: "There are sprouts that never flower — of course there are! There are flowers that never turn into fruit — of course there are!"

9.23 The Master said: "Young people are to be respected: who knows if the next generation won't be as good as this one? But if someone reaches forty or fifty with nothing to show, he's not impressive anymore."

9.24 The Master said: "Straight advice — can you help listening to it? But the point is fixing things. Kind, gentle words — can you help liking them? But the point is figuring them out. Liking them and not figuring them out, listening and not fixing anything — I don't know what to do with a person like that."

9.25 The Master said: "Put loyalty and honesty first. Don't befriend people who aren't as good as you. When you mess up, don't be afraid to fix it."

9.26 The Master said: "Even a whole army can lose its general. You can't take away the will of one ordinary man."

9.27 The Master said: "Wearing a worn-out padded robe, standing next to someone in fancy furs and not feeling ashamed — that's You! 'Not jealous, not greedy — what would be wrong with him?'" Zilu repeated that line for the rest of his life. The Master said: "That alone isn't enough to be called good."

9.28 The Master said: "Only when the weather turns cold do you find out that the pine and cypress are the last to lose their leaves."

9.29 The Master said: "Wise people aren't confused; good people aren't anxious; brave people aren't afraid."

9.30 The Master said: "You can study with someone without ever sharing the Way with them. You can share the Way with them without ever standing firm with them. You can stand firm with them without ever making judgments together with them."

9.31 "The wild cherry blossoms — how they flutter and turn. Don't I think of you? It's just that your home is so far." The Master said: "He wasn't thinking of her. What's far about it?"

10.1 In his own village, Confucius was quiet and humble, like a man who couldn't speak. In the ancestral temple and at court, he spoke fluently — but carefully.

10.2 At court, talking with the lower officials he was easygoing; with the higher officials he was polite and calm. When the ruler was there, he was alert and composed.

10.3 When the ruler called on him to receive guests, his face changed and his steps quickened. He bowed to the people standing with him, hands to left and right, his robe hanging straight front and back. When he hurried forward, his sleeves spread like wings. When the guests left, he always reported back: "The guests aren't looking back anymore."

10.4 Going through the duke's gate, he bent low, as if the gate were too small for him. He didn't stand in the middle of the gateway; he didn't step on the doorsill. Passing the ruler's seat, his face changed and his steps quickened, and he spoke as if short of breath. Picking up his robe, he went up to the hall bent low, holding his breath as if he weren't breathing. Coming out, when he'd gone down one step, his face relaxed and he looked happy. At the bottom of the steps he hurried forward, sleeves like wings. Back in his place, he was alert again.

10.5 Holding the jade tablet, he bent low as if it were too heavy to bear. He raised it as if bowing, lowered it as if handing it over. His face was tense, as if going into battle, and his steps were short and careful, as if following a line. At the gift ceremony his face was relaxed and gracious. At the private meeting afterward, he was cheerful.

10.6 A gentleman doesn't trim his collar with dark purple or maroon, and doesn't wear red or purple around the house. In hot weather he wore a single layer of fine or coarse hemp, but always with something over it when going out. Black robe with lamb fur; white robe with fawn fur; yellow robe with fox fur. His home fur robe was long, with a short right sleeve. He always had a nightgown half again as long as he was tall. He used thick fox and badger fur to sit on. Out of mourning, he wore whatever ornaments he liked. Everything except his curtained skirt was trimmed. He didn't wear a lamb fur and dark cap to funerals. On the first of the month, he always went to court in full court dress.

10.7 When fasting, he always had a clean cloth garment. When fasting he changed his food and moved to a different seat.

10.8 He didn't mind rice being finely milled, or fish and meat finely cut. Sour rice, spoiled fish, or meat gone bad — he wouldn't eat it. Food that looked bad, he wouldn't eat. Food that smelled bad, he wouldn't eat. Food badly cooked, he wouldn't eat. Food not in season, he wouldn't eat. Meat cut wrong, he wouldn't eat. Food without the right sauce, he wouldn't eat. Even when there was plenty of meat, he didn't let it take over from the rice. With wine he had no limit, but never to the point of losing control. Wine or dried meat bought from a shop, he wouldn't eat. He never took the ginger off the table, but didn't eat much of it.

10.9 Meat from the public sacrifice he didn't keep overnight. Sacrificial meat didn't stay three days; past three days he wouldn't eat it.

10.10 He didn't talk while eating and didn't talk in bed.

10.11 Even with plain greens and vegetable soup, he always made the offering first, and always with respect.

10.12 If the mat wasn't straight, he wouldn't sit on it.

10.13 When the villagers had a drinking party, he waited for the old people with canes to leave, and then he left.

10.14 When the villagers held their exorcism ceremony, he stood in his court dress on the eastern steps.

10.15 When sending someone to ask after a friend in another state, he bowed twice and sent him off.

10.16 Kangzi sent him medicine. He bowed and accepted it, saying: "I don't know what's in it, so I don't dare taste it."

10.17 The stables burned down. When the Master came back from court he said: "Was anybody hurt?" He didn't ask about the horses.

10.18 When the ruler sent him cooked food, he always straightened his mat and tasted it first. When the ruler sent raw meat, he always cooked it and made an offering with it. When the ruler sent a live animal, he always raised it. When he ate with the ruler, and the ruler made the offering, he started eating first.

10.19 When he was sick and the ruler came to visit, he lay with his head to the east, his court dress laid over him and his sash hanging down.

10.20 When the ruler sent for him, he set out on foot without waiting for the horses to be hitched.

10.21 Going into the Grand Temple, he asked about everything.

10.22 When a friend died and there was nobody to take care of the body, he said: "I'll handle the funeral."

10.23 When a friend sent a gift, even carriages and horses, he didn't bow unless it was sacrificial meat.

10.24 He didn't sleep stretched out like a corpse, and at home he didn't sit stiff like a guest.

10.25 Seeing someone in mourning, even a close friend, his face always changed. Seeing someone in a cap, or a blind person, even someone familiar, he always showed respect. He bowed from his carriage to anyone in mourning dress, and bowed to anyone carrying the census boards. When a big meal was set out, his face always changed and he stood up. At sudden thunder or a fierce wind, his face always changed.

10.26 Getting into his carriage, he always stood straight and took hold of the hand strap. In the carriage he didn't look back, didn't talk fast, and didn't point.

10.27 When something caught its eye, the bird flew up, circled, and came back down. He said: "The hen pheasant on the bridge — how timely, how timely!" Zilu saluted it, and the bird sniffed three times and flew up.

11.1 The Master said: "The first people to really do ritual and music were plain country folk; the ones who came later were polished gentlemen. If I had to pick, I'd take the plain ones."11.2 The Master said: "Everyone who followed me to Chen and Cai — none of them stick around my door now."11.3 Good character: Yan Yuan, Min Ziqian, Ran Boniu, Zhonggong. Good talkers: Zai Wo, Zigong. Good at government: Ran You, Jilu. Good at learning and culture: Ziyou, Zixia.11.4 The Master said: "Hui doesn't help me at all — there's nothing I say that he doesn't love."11.5 The Master said: "Min Ziqian was a real good son! Nobody could say a bad word about how he treated his parents and brothers."11.6 Nanrong kept repeating the lines about the white jade scepter, so Confucius gave him his niece in marriage.11.7 Ji Kangzi asked: "Which of your students really loves learning?" Confucius said: "Yan Hui loved learning, but he died young. Now there's nobody."11.8 When Yan Yuan died, his father Yan Lu asked for the Master's carriage to pay for an outer coffin. The Master said: "Talented or not, every father talks about his own son. When my son Li died, he had a coffin but no outer one. I wouldn't walk to pay for one — I'm in the ranks of the officials, and I can't walk."11.9 When Yan Yuan died, the Master said: "Oh! Heaven is killing me! Heaven is killing me!"11.10 When Yan Yuan died, the Master wept and wept. His students said: "Master, you're grieving too much!" He said: "Too much? If not for him, who should I grieve for?"11.11 When Yan Yuan died, the students wanted a fancy funeral. The Master said: "No." They did it anyway. The Master said: "Hui treated me like a father, but I couldn't treat him like a son. It wasn't me — it was you students."11.12 Jilu asked about serving ghosts and spirits. The Master said: "You can't even serve people yet — how are you going to serve spirits?" He asked about death. The Master said: "You don't know life yet — how would you know death?"11.13 Minzi stood beside him looking respectful; Zilu looked tough; Ran You and Zigong looked cheerful. The Master was pleased. "But a guy like You won't die of old age."11.14 People of Lu were building a new treasury. Min Ziqian said: "Why not just keep the old one? Why rebuild?" The Master said: "That man hardly talks, but when he does, he's right on target."11.15 The Master said: "Why is You playing his zither at my door?" The other students started disrespecting Zilu. The Master said: "You has made it into the hall — he just hasn't gotten to the inner room yet."11.16 Zigong asked: "Who's better, Shi or Shang?" The Master said: "Shi overshoots; Shang falls short." "So Shi's better?" The Master said: "Overshooting is the same as falling short."11.17 The Ji family was richer than the Duke of Zhou, and Ran Qiu kept squeezing taxes out of people to make them richer. The Master said: "He's no student of mine. Boys, beat the drums and go after him — that's allowed."11.18 Chai is dumb, Shen is slow, Shi is lopsided, You is rough.11.19 The Master said: "Hui is close to perfect, but he's usually broke. Ci doesn't accept his lot — he trades and gets rich, and his guesses usually hit."11.20 Zizhang asked about the way of a good man. The Master said: "He doesn't walk the old tracks, but he still doesn't get into the inner room."11.21 The Master said: "Serious talk — should we approve it? Is he a real gentleman, or just putting on a solemn face?"11.22 Zilu asked: "Should I do it right when I hear it?" The Master said: "Your father and older brother are still alive — how could you just do it?" Ran You asked: "Should I do it right when I hear it?" The Master said: "Do it right when you hear it." Gongxi Hua said: "You asked that and you said, 'Your father and brother are alive'; Qiu asked and you said, 'Do it.' I'm confused — can I ask why?" The Master said: "Qiu holds back, so I push him. You is a match for two men, so I hold him back."11.23 When the Master was in danger in Kuang, Yan Yuan got left behind. The Master said: "I thought you were dead." He said: "You're alive — how would I dare die?"11.24 Ji Ziran asked: "Can Zhong You and Ran Qiu be called great ministers?" The Master said: "I thought you'd ask something interesting, and you ask about You and Qiu. A great minister serves his lord by the Way and quits if that can't be done. You and Qiu are just officials who fill a post." "So they'd go along with anything?" The Master said: "Not with murdering a father or a ruler."11.25 Zilu got Zigao appointed governor of Fei. The Master said: "You're ruining somebody's kid." Zilu said: "There are people there, and there are the altars of the land — why does he need to read books to learn?" The Master said: "That's exactly why I hate smooth talkers."11.26 Zilu, Zengxi, Ran You, and Gongxi Hua were sitting with the Master. He said: "I'm only a day older than you — don't mind that. You sit around saying, 'Nobody knows me!' But if somebody did know you, what would you do?" Zilu answered right away: "A state of a thousand chariots squeezed between big powers, hit by armies, then hit by famine — let me run it. In three years I'd give them courage and a sense of right." The Master smiled at him. "Qiu, what about you?" He said: "A small territory of sixty or seventy li, or fifty or sixty — let me run it. In three years I'd make the people well off. Ritual and music, I'd leave to a gentleman." "Chi, what about you?" He said: "I wouldn't say I can, but I'd like to learn. At temple ceremonies or meetings of lords, in the formal robe and cap, I'd like to be a junior assistant." "Dian, what about you?" The zither music thinned out, then he plucked it sharply, put the zither down, stood up, and said: "Different from those three." The Master said: "What's wrong with that? Everyone just says what he wants." He said: "Late spring, spring clothes ready, five or six young men and six or seven boys, bathing in the Yi river, enjoying the breeze at the rain altar, singing on the way home." The Master sighed and said: "I'm with Dian!" When the three went out, Zengxi stayed behind and said: "What did you think of what they said?" The Master said: "Each just said what he wanted." "Why did you smile at You?" "Running a state takes courtesy, and his answer was cocky — that's why I smiled." "And Qiu wasn't talking about a state?" "Where do you see a place of sixty or seventy li, or fifty or sixty, that isn't a state?" "And Chi wasn't talking about a state?" "Temples and meetings of lords — whose job is that but a ruler's? If Chi's the junior one, who's the senior?"

12.1 Yan Yuan asked about goodness. The Master said: "Control yourself and get back to proper behavior — that's goodness. Do it for one day and the whole world turns to goodness. Goodness comes from you — how could it come from others?" Yan Yuan said: "What are the steps?" The Master said: "Don't look at anything improper, don't listen to anything improper, don't say anything improper, don't do anything improper." Yan Yuan said: "I'm not smart, but I'll try to live by that."12.2 Zhonggong asked about goodness. The Master said: "Going out, act like you're meeting an important guest. Dealing with the people, act like you're at a big sacrifice. What you don't want for yourself, don't do to others. Then nobody in the state or in the family will resent you." Zhonggong said: "I'm not smart, but I'll try to live by that."12.3 Sima Niu asked about goodness. The Master said: "A good person speaks slowly." He said: "Speaking slowly — that's goodness?" The Master said: "If doing it is hard, shouldn't talking about it be slow?"12.4 Sima Niu asked about being a good person. The Master said: "A good person has no worries and no fears." He said: "No worries, no fears — that's it?" The Master said: "If you look inside and find nothing wrong, what's to worry or fear?"12.5 Sima Niu said sadly: "Everyone has brothers; I have none." Zixia said: "I've heard: 'Life and death are fate; wealth and rank come from Heaven.' If a good man is respectful and does nothing wrong, and treats people politely, then everyone in the world is his brother. Why would a good man worry about having no brothers?"12.6 Zizhang asked about being clear-sighted. The Master said: "When sly gossip and nasty complaints can't get through to you, that's clear-sighted. When they can't get through, you're seeing far ahead."12.7 Zigong asked about government. The Master said: "Enough food, enough weapons, and the people's trust." Zigong said: "If you had to drop one, which first?" He said: "Weapons." Zigong said: "If you had to drop another, which first?" He said: "Food. Everyone dies eventually, but a people without trust can't stand."12.8 Ji Zicheng said: "A gentleman just needs substance — what's the point of outward polish?" Zigong said: "Too bad you put it that way about a gentleman! A fast team of horses can't catch your tongue. Polish is substance and substance is polish. Strip the hair off a tiger's or leopard's hide and it looks like a dog's or sheep's."12.9 Duke Ai asked Youzi: "The harvest's bad and money's short — what do I do?" Youzi said: "Why not take a tenth?" The Duke said: "Twenty percent isn't enough for me — how would ten do?" He said: "If the people have enough, who's short? If the people are short, who has enough?"12.10 Zizhang asked about building character and spotting confusion. The Master said: "Put loyalty and honesty first and move toward what's right — that builds character. Loving someone and wanting them alive, hating them and wanting them dead, wanting both at once — that's confusion. 'It's not for wealth, it's just for the oddity.'"12.11 Duke Jing of Qi asked Confucius about government. Confucius said: "Let the ruler act like a ruler, the minister like a minister, the father like a father, the son like a son." The Duke said: "Great! If a ruler isn't a ruler, a minister isn't a minister, a father isn't a father, a son isn't a son — even if there's grain, could I eat it?"12.12 The Master said: "The guy who can settle a court case with half a sentence — is that You?" Zilu never made a promise and left it overnight.12.13 The Master said: "In judging court cases I'm like anyone else. What I want is to make cases stop happening."12.14 Zizhang asked about government. The Master said: "Do the work without getting bored, and do it with loyalty."12.15 The Master said: "Learn widely in culture and keep it in check with proper behavior — then you won't go wrong."12.16 The Master said: "A good person helps others do good things and doesn't help them do bad things. A small person does the opposite."12.17 Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about government. Confucius said: "Government means doing right. If you lead by doing right, who'd dare do wrong?"12.18 Ji Kangzi worried about thieves and asked Confucius. Confucius said: "If you didn't want things so much, they wouldn't steal even if you paid them."12.19 Ji Kangzi asked Confucius: "What if I kill the lawless to help the lawful?" Confucius said: "Why kill? If you want good, the people will be good. A good leader is wind; ordinary people are grass. Wind over grass, and the grass bends."12.20 Zizhang asked: "What makes a scholar distinguished?" The Master said: "What do you mean by distinguished?" Zizhang said: "In the state he's known, in his family he's known." The Master said: "That's fame, not distinction. A distinguished man is honest, loves what's right, reads people carefully, and puts himself last. In the state he's distinguished; in his family he's distinguished. A famous man pretends to be good but acts badly, and never doubts himself. In the state he's known; in his family he's known."12.21 Fan Chi was walking with the Master below the rain altar and said: "Can I ask about building character, fixing hidden faults, and spotting confusion?" The Master said: "Good question! Work first and think about rewards later — that's building character. Attack your own faults, not other people's — that's fixing hidden faults. Losing your temper for one moment and forgetting yourself and your family — that's confusion."12.22 Fan Chi asked about goodness. The Master said: "Love people." He asked about wisdom. The Master said: "Know people." Fan Chi didn't get it. The Master said: "Promote the honest and put them above the crooked, and you can make the crooked honest." Fan Chi left, saw Zixia, and said: "Earlier I asked the Master about wisdom, and he said, 'Promote the honest and put them above the crooked, and you can make the crooked honest.' What did he mean?" Zixia said: "What a deep saying! Shun had the empire, picked from the crowd, promoted Gao Yao, and bad people went away. Tang had the empire, picked from the crowd, promoted Yi Yin, and bad people went away."12.23 Zigong asked about friendship. The Master said: "Give honest advice and guide them well; if they won't listen, stop — don't humiliate yourself."12.24 Zengzi said: "A good person makes friends through learning, and uses friends to support his goodness."

13.1 Zilu asked about government. The Master said: "Lead them, then work hard alongside them." He asked for more. The Master said: "Don't get tired of it."13.2 Zhonggong was steward for the Ji family and asked about government. The Master said: "Use your officials, forgive small mistakes, promote good people." He said: "How do I know who's good enough to promote?" He said: "Promote the ones you know. And the ones you don't know — would people just let them go?"13.3 Zilu said: "The ruler of Wei is waiting for you to govern. What would you start with?" The Master said: "Getting the names right, definitely." Zilu said: "Really? You're off in the clouds, Master! What's there to fix?" The Master said: "You're a rough one, You! A gentleman doesn't talk about what he doesn't know. If names are wrong, words don't fit; if words don't fit, work doesn't get done; if work doesn't get done, ritual and music don't flourish; if ritual and music don't flourish, punishments aren't fair; if punishments aren't fair, people don't know what to do with themselves. So a gentleman has to be able to say what he means, and mean what he says. He's never careless with words."13.4 Fan Chi asked to learn farming. The Master said: "I'm not as good as an old farmer." He asked to learn gardening. The Master said: "I'm not as good as an old gardener." Fan Chi left. The Master said: "Fan Xu is a small man! When leaders respect ritual, the people won't dare be disrespectful; when leaders love what's right, the people won't dare disobey; when leaders are honest, the people will be honest too. Then people from everywhere will come carrying their kids on their backs — who needs farming?"13.5 The Master said: "Someone memorizes all three hundred poems, but when given a government job can't handle it, or sent abroad can't answer on his own — what good is all that learning?"13.6 The Master said: "If a leader is straight himself, things get done without orders. If he's not straight, nobody follows his orders."13.7 The Master said: "The government of Lu and Wei are like brothers."13.8 The Master said Prince Jing of Wei was good at managing his household. When he first had something he said: "It's enough." A little more: "It's nearly complete." Rich: "It's nearly beautiful."13.9 When the Master went to Wei, Ran You drove. The Master said: "What a crowd!" Ran You said: "Now that they're crowded, what next?" He said: "Make them rich." "Now that they're rich, what next?" He said: "Teach them."13.10 The Master said: "If someone would use me, in a year I'd have things working; in three years, real results."13.11 The Master said: "'If good people ran a state for a hundred years, they could stop cruelty and killing.' That saying is true!"13.12 The Master said: "If a real king came along, it'd take a generation before goodness spread."13.13 The Master said: "If you make yourself straight, what's hard about governing? If you can't make yourself straight, how can you straighten others?"13.14 Ran You came back from court. The Master said: "Why so late?" He said: "There were government matters." The Master said: "They were private matters. If there were real government matters, even out of office, I'd have heard about them."13.15 Duke Ding asked: "Is there one saying that can make a state thrive?" Confucius said: "No single saying can quite do that. But people say: 'Being a ruler is hard, being a minister isn't easy.' If you really know how hard it is to rule, that's close to one saying making a state thrive." "Is there one saying that can ruin a state?" Confucius said: "No single saying can quite do that. But people say: 'I don't enjoy ruling — except that nobody contradicts me.' If what you say is good and nobody contradicts you, great. If it's bad and nobody contradicts you, that's close to one saying ruining a state."13.16 The Duke of She asked about government. The Master said: "Make the people near you happy, and people far away will come."13.17 Zixia was governor of Jufu and asked about government. The Master said: "Don't rush, and don't chase small profits. Rush and you won't get there; chase small profits and big things don't get done."13.18 The Duke of She told Confucius: "In my village there's a really honest man. His father stole a sheep, and the son turned him in." Confucius said: "In my village honesty looks different: a father covers for his son and a son covers for his father — that's where honesty lives."13.19 Fan Chi asked about goodness. The Master said: "At home be respectful; at work be serious; with people be loyal. Even among barbarians, don't drop these."13.20 Zigong asked: "What makes someone a real scholar?" The Master said: "He has a sense of shame about himself, and when sent abroad he doesn't disgrace his ruler's mission — that's a scholar." "What's the next level?" "His family calls him a good son; his neighbors call him a good brother." "What's the next level?" "He keeps his word and finishes what he starts, stubbornly, like a small man — but he can count as the next level." "What about today's officials?" The Master said: "Ugh! Small-time nobodies — not worth counting."13.21 The Master said: "If I can't find steady middle-of-the-road people to work with, I'll take the eager and the cautious. The eager push forward; the cautious won't do certain things."13.22 The Master said: "People in the south say: 'A person with no steadiness can't be a fortune-teller or a doctor.' Well said! 'If you're not steady in your character, you'll bring shame on yourself.'" The Master said: "It just means you don't need to consult the oracle about him."13.23 The Master said: "A good person is in harmony but not a copy; a small person is a copy but not in harmony."13.24 Zigong asked: "What if everyone in town likes a man?" The Master said: "Not good enough." "What if everyone hates him?" The Master said: "Not good enough either. Better if the good people like him and the bad people hate him."13.25 The Master said: "A good person is easy to work for but hard to please. Please him the wrong way and he's not pleased; and when he uses people, he gives them the right job. A small person is hard to work for but easy to please — please him the wrong way and he's pleased, but when he uses people he demands perfection."13.26 The Master said: "A good person is calm, not arrogant. A small person is arrogant, not calm."13.27 The Master said: "Tough, determined, simple, and slow to talk — that's close to goodness."13.28 Zilu asked: "What makes someone a real scholar?" The Master said: "Warm and encouraging with friends, easy and happy with brothers — that's a scholar. With friends you push each other; with brothers you just enjoy each other."13.29 The Master said: "When good people have taught the people for seven years, they can be sent to war."13.30 The Master said: "Sending untrained people into war is throwing them away."

14.1 Xian asked about shame. The Master said: "Getting paid while the state is well run, and getting paid while the state is a mess — that's shame." "If someone avoids showing off, bragging, resenting, and wanting — is that goodness?" The Master said: "That's hard to do — but whether it's goodness, I don't know."14.2 The Master said: "A scholar who cares about comfort isn't a scholar."14.3 The Master said: "When the state is well run, speak out and act boldly. When it's a mess, act boldly but talk carefully."14.4 The Master said: "A good person may have things to say; a talker isn't necessarily good. A good person is brave; a brave person isn't necessarily good."14.5 Nangong Kuo asked Confucius: "Yi was a great archer, Ao could push boats across the water, but neither died a natural death. Yu and Ji worked the fields and got the empire." The Master didn't answer. After Nangong Kuo left, the Master said: "What a gentleman! How he values virtue!"14.6 The Master said: "A gentleman can lack goodness, but a small person never has it."14.7 The Master said: "If you love someone, can you not give them work? If you're loyal to them, can you not teach them?"14.8 The Master said: "When they wrote a diplomatic message, Pi Chen drafted it, Shi Shu discussed it, Ziyu the envoy polished it, and Zichan of Dongli made it beautiful."14.9 Someone asked about Zichan. The Master said: "A generous man." About Zixi: "That guy! That guy!" About Guan Zhong: "A real man. He took three hundred households from the Bo family, and they ate plain food the rest of their lives without complaining."14.10 The Master said: "Being poor without complaining is hard; being rich without being arrogant is easy."14.11 The Master said: "Meng Gongchuo would be great as a steward for the Zhao or Wei families, but he couldn't be a minister for Teng or Xue."14.12 Zilu asked what makes a complete person. The Master said: "The wisdom of Zang Wuzhong, the self-control of Gongchuo, the courage of Bian Zhuangzi, the skill of Ran Qiu — all polished with ritual and music — that makes a complete person." He said: "But these days, why need all that? See profit and think of what's right; face danger and give your life; remember your old promises — that makes a complete person."14.13 The Master asked Gongming Jia about Gongshu Wenzi: "Is it true he never spoke, never laughed, never took anything?" Gongming Jia said: "Whoever told you exaggerated. He spoke at the right time, so no one got tired of his words; he laughed when he was happy, so no one got tired of his laughing; he took only what was fair, so no one got tired of his taking." The Master said: "Really? Really?"14.14 The Master said: "Zang Wuzhong used his town of Fang to ask Lu to give his family a permanent place. He said he wasn't demanding, but I don't believe it."14.15 The Master said: "Duke Wen of Jin was sneaky and not straight; Duke Huan of Qi was straight and not sneaky."14.16 Zilu said: "When Duke Huan killed Prince Jiu, Shao Hu died with him but Guan Zhong didn't." He said: "Wasn't that wrong?" The Master said: "Duke Huan united the lords nine times without a war — that was Guan Zhong. That's goodness! That's goodness!"14.17 Zigong said: "Guan Zhong wasn't good, was he? Duke Huan killed Prince Jiu and he didn't die, and then he served Duke Huan." The Master said: "Guan Zhong made Duke Huan leader of the lords and set the world straight; people still benefit today. Without Guan Zhong we'd all be wearing our hair loose and buttoning our coats on the wrong side. Would he throw his life away in a ditch like some nobody, and no one would even know?"14.18 The retainer Zhuan was promoted by Gongshu Wenzi to the rank of official. Hearing it, the Master said: "That deserves the name 'Cultured.'"14.19 The Master mentioned how badly Duke Ling of Wei ruled. Kangzi said: "Then why didn't he fall?" Confucius said: "Zhongshu Yu handles diplomacy, Zhu Tuo handles the temple, Wangsun Jia handles the army. So how would he fall?"14.20 The Master said: "If someone brags with no shame, it's hard to deliver."14.21 Chen Chengzi murdered Duke Jian. Confucius washed and fasted, went to court, and told Duke Ai: "Chen Heng has murdered his ruler. Please punish him." The Duke said: "Tell the three ministers." Confucius said: "Since I'm in the ranks of officials, I had to tell you. But you say, 'Tell the three.'" He told the three; they refused. Confucius said: "Since I'm in the ranks of officials, I had to tell them."14.22 Zilu asked about serving a ruler. The Master said: "Don't lie to him; stand up to him."14.23 The Master said: "A good person moves up; a small person moves down."14.24 The Master said: "People used to study to improve themselves; now they study to impress others."14.25 Qu Boyu sent a messenger to Confucius. Confucius sat with him and asked: "What's your master up to?" He said: "He wants to make fewer mistakes but hasn't managed it yet." After the messenger left, the Master said: "Now that's a messenger!"14.26 The Master said: "If you're not in the job, don't plan its work." Zengzi said: "A good person's thoughts don't go past his own position."14.27 The Master said: "A good person is ashamed if his words get ahead of his actions."14.28 The Master said: "The Way of a good person has three things and I have none of them: the good don't worry, the wise don't doubt, the brave don't fear." Zigong said: "That's him describing himself."14.29 Zigong was comparing people. The Master said: "Ci, are you really that good? I don't have the time."14.30 The Master said: "Don't worry that people don't know you; worry that you're not able."14.31 The Master said: "Not expecting lies and not assuming bad faith, but seeing it coming anyway — that's the smart one."14.32 Weisheng Mu said to Confucius: "Qiu, why do you run around like that? Aren't you just showing off?" Confucius said: "I'm not showing off; I just hate stubbornness."14.33 The Master said: "A fine horse is praised for its character, not its strength."14.34 Someone said: "What about repaying hate with kindness?" The Master said: "Then what do you repay kindness with? Repay hate with fairness, and kindness with kindness."14.35 The Master said: "Nobody knows me!" Zigong said: "Why does nobody know you?" The Master said: "I don't blame Heaven or complain about people. I study what's here below and reach what's above. Who knows me? Maybe Heaven."14.36 Gongbo Liao slandered Zilu to Jisun. Zifu Jingbo told the Master: "Jisun is shaken by Gongbo Liao, but I still have the power to have him killed in public." The Master said: "If the Way is going to work, that's fate; if it's going to fail, that's fate. What can Gongbo Liao do to fate?"14.37 The Master said: "The best avoid the whole world; then a place; then a bad look; then a bad word." The Master said: "Seven men did that."14.38 Zilu spent the night at Stone Gate. The gatekeeper asked: "Where from?" Zilu said: "From the Kong family." He said: "The one who knows it can't be done and keeps doing it anyway?"14.39 The Master was playing the stone chimes in Wei when a man carrying a basket passed the Kong family door and said: "He's really into that chime-playing!" Then: "How stubborn! If nobody knows you, just give it up. 'When it's deep, wade through; when it's shallow, hike up your robe.'" The Master said: "What a hard man! Nothing's a problem for him."14.40 Zizhang said: "The Book says: 'Gaozong stayed in his mourning hut and didn't speak for three years.' What does that mean?" The Master said: "Why just Gaozong? Everyone did that. When a ruler died, officials took orders from the prime minister for three years."14.41 The Master said: "When leaders respect ritual, the people are easy to lead."14.42 Zilu asked about being a good person. The Master said: "Improve yourself, respectfully." "That's all?" "Improve yourself and bring ease to others." "That's all?" "Improve yourself and bring ease to the whole people. Even Yao and Shun found that hard."14.43 Yuan Rang was sitting with his legs spread out. The Master said: "Rude as a kid, useless as an adult, and still alive when old — that's a pest." He whacked him on the shin with his stick.14.44 A boy from Que village was delivering messages. Someone asked: "Is he making progress?" The Master said: "I saw him sitting where adults sit and walking beside his elders. He's not after progress; he wants to be grown up fast."

15.1 Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about military tactics. Confucius said: "I've heard about arranging sacrificial vessels; I never studied warfare." The next day he left.15.2 They ran out of food in Chen, and the followers got too sick to stand. Zilu came in angry: "Does a good person end up broke too?" The Master said: "A good person stays steady when broke; a small person falls apart."15.3 The Master said: "Ci, do you think I'm someone who learns a lot and remembers it?" He said: "Yes — aren't you?" He said: "No. I tie it all together with one thing."15.4 The Master said: "You! Not many people really understand virtue."15.5 The Master said: "Shun was the one who governed without doing anything, right? What did he do? He was respectful and faced south — that was it."15.6 Zizhang asked how to get along in the world. The Master said: "If your words are honest and your actions sincere and respectful, you'll get along even among barbarians. If your words are dishonest and your actions not sincere, will you get along even at home? Standing, see them in front of you; riding, see them on the carriage rail — then you'll get along." Zizhang wrote it on his belt.15.7 The Master said: "Shi Yu was straight! Good times, he was like an arrow; bad times, he was like an arrow. Qu Boyu was a real gentleman! Good times, he took office; bad times, he rolled up his talents and kept them to himself."15.8 The Master said: "If you don't talk to someone you could talk to, you lose the person. If you talk to someone you can't talk to, you waste your words. A wise person loses neither."15.9 The Master said: "A dedicated, good person won't trade goodness for life — he'd give his life to keep his goodness whole."15.10 Zigong asked about how to practice goodness. The Master said: "A craftsman who wants good work sharpens his tools first. Living in a state, work for its best officials and befriend its best people."15.11 Yan Yuan asked how to run a state. The Master said: "Use the Xia calendar, ride the Yin carriage, wear the Zhou cap, and the music of Shao and Wu. Ban the music of Zheng and keep smooth talkers away. Zheng music is sleazy; smooth talkers are dangerous."15.12 The Master said: "If you don't plan ahead, trouble is right there."15.13 The Master said: "That's it! I've never seen anyone love virtue the way they love good looks."15.14 The Master said: "Zang Wenzhong was a man who stole his position! He knew how good Liuxia Hui was and never gave him a job."15.15 The Master said: "Demand a lot of yourself and little of others, and you won't be resented."15.16 The Master said: "Someone who never asks, 'What should I do? What should I do?' — I can't do anything with him."15.17 The Master said: "Hanging around all day, never talking about anything that matters, just showing off how clever you are — hopeless!"15.18 The Master said: "A good person's core is what's right; he does it with ritual, offers it with politeness, and finishes it with honesty. Now that's a good person!"15.19 The Master said: "A good person worries that he has no ability, not that people don't notice him."15.20 The Master said: "A good person hates dying without being remembered for anything."15.21 The Master said: "A good person looks to himself; a small person looks to others."15.22 The Master said: "A good person has dignity but doesn't fight; he joins in but doesn't take sides."15.23 The Master said: "A good person doesn't promote someone just for a fine speech, or ignore a fine speech because of who said it."15.24 Zigong asked: "Is there one word you can live by your whole life?" The Master said: "Understanding, maybe: what you don't want for yourself, don't do to others."15.25 The Master said: "When I judge people, who have I trashed, who have I praised? If I praised anyone, I checked him out. These people are what let the three dynasties walk the straight road."15.26 The Master said: "I still saw blank spots in the scribes' records. A man with a horse would lend it for someone else to ride. That's gone now!"15.27 The Master said: "Smooth talk wrecks character. Not being able to wait ruins big plans."15.28 The Master said: "If everyone hates a man, check him out. If everyone loves a man, check him out too."15.29 The Master said: "A person can make the Way great; the Way can't make a person great."15.30 The Master said: "If you make a mistake and don't fix it, that's the real mistake."15.31 The Master said: "I once went a whole day without food and a whole night without sleep, thinking hard. It didn't help. Better to learn."15.32 The Master said: "A good person works for the Way, not for a paycheck. Farming can still leave you hungry; studying can bring a salary. A good person worries about the Way, not about being poor."15.33 The Master said: "If you understand something but goodness can't hold onto it, you'll lose it even if you got it. If goodness holds it but you don't treat it seriously, people won't respect it. If you understand it, goodness holds it, you treat it seriously, but you run it without ritual — it's still not right."15.34 The Master said: "You can't judge a good person by small things, but you can give him big responsibilities. You can't give a small person big responsibilities, but you can judge him by small things."15.35 The Master said: "People need goodness more than they need water and fire. I've seen people drown or burn to death; I've never seen anyone die of goodness."15.36 The Master said: "When it comes to goodness, don't even give way to your teacher."15.37 The Master said: "A good person is firm, not stubborn."15.38 The Master said: "Serving your ruler, do the work first and get paid later."15.39 The Master said: "Teach everyone, no matter who they are."15.40 The Master said: "People on different roads can't plan together."15.41 The Master said: "Words just need to get the point across."15.42 When Music Master Mian came to call, as he reached the steps the Master said: "Here are the steps." At the mat: "Here's the mat." When everyone sat, the Master told him: "So-and-so is here; so-and-so is here." After Music Master Mian left, Zizhang asked: "Is that how you talk to a music master?" The Master said: "Yes — that's how you help a blind music master along."

16.1 The Ji family was about to attack the little state of Zhuanyu. Ran You and Zilu came to Confucius and said, "The Ji family is about to move against Zhuanyu." The Master said, "Qiu! Isn't this your fault? Long ago the former kings put Zhuanyu in charge of the eastern Meng mountain, and it sits inside our borders — it's a servant of our own altars. Why attack it?" Ran You said, "Our lord wants it; neither of us two ministers wants it." The Master said, "Qiu! Zhou Ren once said, 'Do your part in the job you hold, and if you can't, quit.' If you can't steady a thing that's tipping or hold up a thing that's falling, why keep you as advisers at all? And your words are wrong anyway: when a tiger or a rhino gets out of its cage, when a precious tortoise shell or a jade is smashed in its box, whose fault is that?" Ran You said, "Zhuanyu is strong and close to Fei. If we don't take it now, our children and grandchildren will have trouble." The Master said, "Qiu! A good man hates people who won't admit what they want and have to dress it up. I've heard that rulers of states and families don't worry about having too little, they worry about things being unfair; they don't worry about being poor, they worry about things not being stable. When things are fair there's no poverty, when there's harmony there's no shortage, when there's peace there's no collapse. So if that's true and far-off people won't come over to you, you build up your culture and your goodness to draw them in. Once they've come, you make them feel secure. Now you and Qiu are serving your lord: far-off people won't come and you can't draw them, your state is splitting apart and you can't hold it together, and you're planning to start a war inside it. I'm afraid the trouble for the Ji family isn't in Zhuanyu — it's inside their own house walls."

16.2 Confucius said: "When the world is on the right path, ritual, music, and war all come from the king. When the world is off the path, ritual, music, and war come from the feudal lords. When they come from the lords, ten generations rarely pass before it's lost. When they come from the chief ministers, five generations rarely pass. When household servants run the state, three generations rarely pass. When the world is on the right path, the chief ministers don't hold the government. When the world is on the right path, the common people don't have to argue about it."

16.3 Confucius said: "The income has been gone from the duke's house for five generations, and the government has been in the hands of the chief ministers for four; that's why the descendants of the Three Huan are fading."

16.4 Confucius said: "Three kinds of friends help you and three kinds hurt you. Friends who are honest, friends who keep their word, friends who know a lot — those help. Friends who flatter you, friends who agree with everything, friends who talk smooth nonsense — those hurt."

16.5 Confucius said: "Three kinds of enjoyment help you and three kinds hurt you. Enjoying the self-control of ritual and music, enjoying talking about other people's good points, enjoying having many good friends — those help. Enjoying arrogant pleasure, enjoying idle wandering, enjoying big feasts — those hurt."

16.6 Confucius said: "When you're with a superior, there are three mistakes: speaking before it's your turn is rushing; staying silent when it is your turn is hiding; speaking without watching his face is being blind."

16.7 Confucius said: "A good man has three warnings. When he's young his blood and energy are unsettled, so watch out for lust. In his prime his blood and energy are at full strength, so watch out for fighting. In old age his blood and energy are spent, so watch out for greed."

16.8 Confucius said: "A good man stands in awe of three things: Heaven's command, great men, and the words of sages. A petty man doesn't know Heaven's command and feels no awe; he treats great men too casually and mocks the words of the sages."

16.9 Confucius said: "People who know things from birth are the highest. People who know by learning come next. People who learn because they're stuck come after that. And people who are stuck and still don't learn — they're the lowest of the low."

16.10 Confucius said: "A good man thinks about nine things: in looking, he thinks of seeing clearly; in listening, of hearing well; in his face, of warmth; in his manner, of respect; in his speech, of honesty; in his work, of seriousness; in doubt, of asking; in anger, of the trouble it could cause; and when he sees a profit, of what's right."

16.11 Confucius said: "'To see goodness and feel you can never catch up to it; to see what's wrong and pull back as if from boiling water.' I've seen people like that and I've heard words like that. 'To live hidden away to follow your own purpose; to do what's right so your Way gets through.' I've heard words like that, but I've never seen a person like that."

16.12 Duke Jing of Qi had four thousand horses, but the day he died the people had nothing good to say about him. Bo Yi and Shu Qi starved at the foot of Mount Shouyang, and people still praise them today. Isn't that what it means?

16.13 Chen Kang asked Boyu, "Have you ever heard anything special from your father?" Boyu said, "Not yet. Once he was standing alone and I hurried past the courtyard. He asked, 'Have you studied the Odes?' I said, 'Not yet.' He said, 'If you don't study the Odes, you'll have nothing to say.' So I went and studied the Odes. Another day he was standing alone again and I hurried past the courtyard. He asked, 'Have you studied ritual?' I said, 'Not yet.' He said, 'If you don't study ritual, you'll have nothing to stand on.' So I went and studied ritual. Those are the only two things I've heard." Chen Kang left happy and said, "I asked one question and got three answers: I learned about the Odes, I learned about ritual, and I learned that a good man keeps his distance from his own son."

16.14 The wife of the ruler of a state: the ruler calls her "my lady"; she calls herself "the little servant"; the people of the state call her "the ruler's lady"; when she's spoken of to other states they say "our lone little lady"; and people of other states also call her "the ruler's lady."

17.1 Yang Huo wanted to see Confucius, and Confucius wouldn't see him, so Yang Huo sent him a gift of a suckling pig. Confucius picked a time when Yang Huo was out and went to give thanks, and the two met on the road. Yang Huo said to Confucius, "Come here, I've got something to say to you." He said, "Keeping your treasure hidden while your country goes off the rails — is that goodness?" Confucius said, "No." "Wanting to be useful in public life but always missing your moment — is that wisdom?" "No." "The days and months go by; the years won't wait for you." Confucius said, "All right — I'll take office."

17.2 The Master said: "People are close to each other by nature; they grow far apart by habit."

17.3 The Master said: "Only the wisest and the most stupid never change."

17.4 The Master went to Wucheng and heard the sound of stringed instruments and singing. He smiled and said, "Why use an ox-knife to kill a chicken?" Ziyou answered, "I, Yan, once heard you say, 'When a good man learns the Way he loves people; when a petty man learns the Way he's easy to command.'" The Master said, "My friends, Yan is right. What I said before was a joke."

17.5 Gongshan Furao revolted, holding the town of Fei, and invited the Master, who wanted to go. Zilu was unhappy and said, "There's nowhere to go and that's that — why must you go to Gongshan's?" The Master said, "The man who invited me — do you think he did it for nothing? If someone would really use me, I could build a new Zhou in the East!"

17.6 Zizhang asked Confucius about goodness. Confucius said, "If you can practice five things everywhere in the world, you have goodness." "What are they?" "Respect, generosity, honesty, energy, kindness. With respect you avoid insults. With generosity you win people. With honesty people trust you with responsibility. With energy you get things done. With kindness you can get people to follow you."

17.7 Bi Xi invited him, and the Master wanted to go. Zilu said, "I, You, once heard you say, 'A good man doesn't join someone who has done evil himself.' Bi Xi is holding Zhongmou in revolt — how can you go to him?" The Master said, "True, I did say that. But isn't it said that the hardest things can be ground and not worn thin, and the whitest can be dipped in dye and not turn black? Am I a bitter gourd, hanging there and never eaten?"

17.8 The Master said, "You! Have you heard about the six sayings and the six traps?" Zilu said, "No." "Sit down; I'll tell you. Loving goodness without loving learning — the trap is being a fool. Loving cleverness without loving learning — the trap is drifting. Loving honesty without loving learning — the trap is doing harm. Loving straightness without loving learning — the trap is being harsh. Loving courage without loving learning — the trap is causing chaos. Loving firmness without loving learning — the trap is recklessness."

17.9 The Master said: "Students, why doesn't anyone study the Odes? The Odes can stir your feelings, open your eyes, make you good company, and let you complain. Close at hand they teach you to serve your father; further off, to serve your ruler; and they teach you the names of many birds and animals, plants and trees."

17.10 The Master said to Boyu: "Have you done the Zhou South and the Shao South? A person who hasn't done the Zhou South and the Shao South is like someone standing facing a wall."

17.11 The Master said: "Ritual, ritual — does it just mean jade and silk? Music, music — does it just mean bells and drums?"

17.12 The Master said: "A fierce face over a cowardly heart — compared with a petty man, isn't he like a burglar who tunnels through walls?"

17.13 The Master said: "The nice guy everyone in the village likes is the thief of real goodness."

17.14 The Master said: "To hear something on the road and repeat it on the road is to throw goodness away."

17.15 The Master said: "Can you serve a lord side by side with a small-minded man? Before he gets the job he's afraid he won't get it. Once he has it he's afraid to lose it. And once he's afraid to lose it, there's nothing he won't do."

17.16 The Master said: "In the old days people had three faults; these days maybe even those are gone. The wildness of the old days had some freedom in it; today's wildness is just drift. The pride of the old days had some backbone in it; today's pride is spite and anger. The foolishness of the old days was at least honest; today's foolishness is plain cheating."

17.17 The Master said: "Smooth talk and a practiced smile rarely go with real goodness."

17.18 The Master said: "I hate purple stealing the place of red. I hate the pop songs of Zheng wrecking the solemn music. I hate the glib tongue that overturns states and families."

17.19 The Master said, "I'd like to say nothing at all." Zigong said, "If you say nothing, what will we pass on?" The Master said, "What does Heaven say? The seasons come and go, the hundred things are born. What does Heaven say?"

17.20 Ru Bei wanted to see Confucius, and Confucius sent word that he was sick. But when the messenger reached the door, Confucius picked up his zither and sang, making sure Ru Bei heard it.

17.21 Zai Wo asked, "Three years of mourning — a year is already long enough. If a good man doesn't practice ritual for three years, ritual will fall apart; if he doesn't practice music for three years, music will collapse. Last year's grain is gone and this year's is in; the fire-sticks have gone all the way round. A year is enough." The Master said, "Would you feel comfortable eating fine rice and wearing embroidered clothes?" Zai Wo said, "Yes." The Master said, "If you're comfortable, then go ahead! But a good man in mourning finds no sweetness in good food, no joy in music, no rest in a fine house, so he doesn't do it. Now you're comfortable, so do it!" Zai Wo left. The Master said, "Yu is without goodness. A child isn't out of his parents' arms until he's three. Three years of mourning is what everyone in the world does. Did Yu get three years of love from his parents?"

17.22 The Master said: "Eating your fill all day and never using your mind — that's a hard life! Aren't there games like chess? Playing them is still better than nothing."

17.23 Zilu said, "Does a good man value courage?" The Master said, "A good man puts what's right first. A good man with courage but no sense of right becomes a rebel; a petty man with courage but no sense of right becomes a bandit."

17.24 Zigong said, "Does a good man hate anyone too?" The Master said, "Yes. He hates people who broadcast other people's faults. He hates people who live low and insult those above them. He hates brave people with no manners. He hates bold people who won't listen to reason." He said, "Ci, do you hate anyone?" "I hate people who think prying is wisdom, people who think being rude is courage, and people who think telling tales is honesty."

17.25 The Master said: "Only women and petty men are hard to deal with. Get close and they get rude; keep your distance and they resent it."

17.26 The Master said: "A man of forty who is still hated — that's how he'll end up."

18.1 The Viscount of Wei left him; the Viscount of Ji became his slave; Bi Gan argued with him and was killed. Confucius said, "The Yin had three good men."

18.2 Liuxia Hui was chief judge and was fired three times. Someone said, "Can't you leave?" He said, "If I serve people honestly, where could I go and not be fired three times? If I serve people dishonestly, why would I need to leave my own homeland?"

18.3 Duke Jing of Qi, receiving Confucius, said, "I can't treat you the way the Ji family is treated; I'll treat you somewhere between the Ji and the Meng." He said, "I'm old; I can't put you to use." Confucius left.

18.4 The people of Qi sent a gift of singing girls; Ji Huanzi accepted them and for three days didn't hold court; Confucius left.

18.5 The madman of Chu, Jie Yu, sang as he passed by Confucius: "Phoenix, phoenix! How your virtue has faded! What's past can't be fixed; what's coming can still be chased. Give it up, give it up! The men in power now are in danger!" Confucius came down from his carriage and wanted to talk with him, but Jie Yu hurried away and dodged him, and he never got to talk with him.

18.6 Chang Ju and Jie Ni were ploughing a field together. Confucius passed by and sent Zilu to ask where the crossing was. Chang Ju said, "Who's that holding the reins?" Zilu said, "That's Kong Qiu." "The Kong Qiu of Lu?" "Yes." "Then he knows where the crossing is." He asked Jie Ni. Jie Ni said, "Who are you?" "I'm Zhong You." "One of the followers of the Kong Qiu of Lu?" "Yes." Jie Ni said, "The whole world is one big flood — who's going to change it for you? Besides, instead of following a man who runs from one ruler to the next, wouldn't it be better to follow someone who runs from the whole age?" And he went on covering the seed without stopping. Zilu went back and told the Master. The Master looked lost for a moment and said, "You can't herd with birds and beasts. If I don't join up with people like these, who do I join up with? If the world were on the right path, I wouldn't be out here trying to change it."

18.7 Zilu fell behind and met an old man carrying a basket of weeds on his staff. Zilu asked, "Have you seen the Master?" The old man said, "Your arms and legs aren't used to work and you can't tell one grain from another — who's your Master?" He stuck his staff in the ground and kept weeding. Zilu stood with his hands folded. The old man kept Zilu overnight, killed a chicken and cooked millet and fed him, and brought out his two sons to meet him. The next day Zilu went on and told the Master. The Master said, "He's a hermit." He sent Zilu back to see him, but when Zilu got there the man had gone. Zilu said, "It's wrong not to serve in office. If the order between old and young can't be thrown away, how can the duty between ruler and minister be thrown away? He wanted to keep himself clean and ended up wrecking the biggest human ties. A good man takes office to do what's right. That the Way isn't working, he already knows."

18.8 Men who walked away from the world: Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Yuzhong, Yiyi, Zhuzhang, Liuxia Hui, Shaolian. The Master said, "They wouldn't lower their aim or disgrace themselves: that's Bo Yi and Shu Qi." Of Liuxia Hui and Shaolian he said, "They lowered their aim and disgraced themselves, but their words were always sensible and their actions thought out — that's all there is to them." Of Yuzhong and Yiyi he said, "They hid away and spoke their minds; they stayed clean, and their quitting was well judged. I'm different from all of them: I have no 'must' and no 'must not.'"

18.9 The Grand Music Master Zhi went to Qi. The musician for the second meal, Gan, went to Chu; for the third meal, Liao, went to Cai; for the fourth meal, Que, went to Qin. The drummer Fang Shu went to the country of the Yellow River; the hand-drum player Wu went to the country of the Han River; the junior Music Master Yang and the chime player Xiang went to the sea.

18.10 The Duke of Zhou said to the Duke of Lu: "A good man doesn't push his own family aside, and he doesn't let his chief ministers resent being ignored. Old friends and old servants, unless something serious has happened, he doesn't drop them. And he doesn't demand that one person be perfect at everything."

18.11 The Zhou had eight worthy men: Bo Da, Bo Kuo, Zhong Tu, Zhong Hu, Shu Ye, Shu Xia, Ji Sui, Ji Gua.

19.1 Zizhang said: "A real scholar gives his life when he sees danger, thinks of what's right when he sees profit, thinks of respect when he sacrifices, and thinks of grief when he mourns. That's enough."

19.2 Zizhang said: "If you hold to goodness without broadening it, and believe in the Way without real commitment, how can anyone say you have it? How can anyone say you don't?"

19.3 Zixia's students asked Zizhang about friendship. Zizhang said, "What does Zixia say?" They said, "Zixia says, 'Be friends with the people you can be friends with; push away the ones you can't.'" Zizhang said, "That's not what I've heard: 'A good man respects the worthy and accepts everybody; he admires the good and pities the ones who can't manage. If I'm really good, who can't I accept? If I'm no good, people will push me away — so how could I push them away?'"

19.4 Zixia said: "Even little skills have something worth watching in them, but you'll get stuck if you go far with them, so a good man doesn't bother."

19.5 Zixia said: "Knowing each day what you still don't know, and not forgetting each month what you can already do — that's what loving to learn means."

19.6 Zixia said: "Study widely and hold to your aim firmly; ask hard questions and think about what's close at hand. Goodness is in there somewhere."

19.7 Zixia said: "Workers sit in their workshops to get the job done; a good man studies to get the Way done."

19.8 Zixia said: "A petty man always covers up his mistakes."

19.9 Zixia said: "A good man changes three times: from a distance he looks stern; up close he's warm; listening to him speak, he's sharp."

19.10 Zixia said: "A good man earns trust first, and only then puts people to work. Without trust, they'd think he was just being hard on them. He earns trust first, and only then gives advice. Without trust, they'd think he was insulting them."

19.11 Zixia said: "In big matters of goodness, don't step over the line. In small ones, a little in and out is fine."

19.12 Ziyou said, "Zixia's young students can sweep, take messages, and come and go politely — but those are just the branches. There's no root in them. What about that?" Zixia heard it and said, "Oh, Yan You is wrong! In a good man's Way, what gets taught first and what gets left till later? It's like plants and trees: they have to be told apart by kind. How can anyone misrepresent the Way of a good man? Someone who has both the beginning and the end — that's probably only a sage."

19.13 Zixia said: "If you're in office and have time to spare, study. If you're studying and have time to spare, take office."

19.14 Ziyou said: "In mourning, let it reach real grief, and stop there."

19.15 Ziyou said: "My friend Zhang can do things that are hard to do, but he isn't good yet."

19.16 Zengzi said: "Zhang is so grand — it's hard to practice goodness alongside him."

19.17 Zengzi said: "I heard the Master say: 'No one gives himself over completely — except, surely, at a parent's funeral.'"

19.18 Zengzi said: "I heard the Master say: 'In Meng Zhuangzi's dutifulness to his parents, other things could be equaled. But keeping his father's ministers and his father's policies — that's what's hard to equal.'"

19.19 The Meng family made Yang Fu chief judge, and he asked Zengzi. Zengzi said: "The people above have left the right path, and the people have been scattered for a long time. If you find out the truth of a case, feel sorry for them and don't be pleased with yourself!"

19.20 Zigong said: "King Zhou's wickedness wasn't really as extreme as all that. That's why a good man hates being in a low position — all the world's dirt flows down to it."

19.21 Zigong said: "A good man's mistakes are like eclipses of the sun and moon: when he gets it wrong, everybody sees it; when he fixes it, everybody looks up to him."

19.22 Gongsun Chao of Wei asked Zigong, "Where did Zhongni get his learning?" Zigong said: "The Way of King Wen and King Wu hasn't fallen to the ground — it lives in people. The able ones grasp the big parts; the lesser ones grasp the small parts. Nobody is without the Way of Wen and Wu. How could the Master not learn? And why would he need one regular teacher?"

19.23 Shusun Wushu told the ministers at court, "Zigong is better than Zhongni." Zifu Jingbo told Zigong. Zigong said: "Think of a house wall. My wall is shoulder-high, so you can look over it and see the nice things inside the house. The Master's wall is many times a man's height. If you can't get in by the gate, you don't see the beauty of the ancestral temple or the richness of the whole household. The people who find the gate are few. So no wonder the man said what he said!"

19.24 Shusun Wushu ran Zhongni down. Zigong said, "Don't bother! Zhongni can't be run down. Other good men are like hills and mounds — you can climb over them. Zhongni is the sun and the moon — you can't climb over them. A person can turn his back on them, but what harm does that do the sun and moon? It just shows he doesn't know his own size."

19.25 Chen Ziqin said to Zigong, "You're just being modest. Can Zhongni really be better than you?" Zigong said: "One word can make a good man look wise, and one word can make him look stupid, so you have to watch what you say. The Master is out of reach, like the sky — you can't get up there by ladder. If the Master had been given a state or a family, it would be as the saying goes: 'Put him up and the people stand; lead them and they follow; comfort them and they come; stir them and they pull together. In life he's honored, and in death he's mourned.' How could anyone reach that?"

20.1 Yao said: "Oh, you Shun! Heaven's succession now rests on you. Hold faithfully to the middle. If the four seas fall into poverty and distress, Heaven's favor ends forever." Shun passed the same charge on to Yu. Tang said: "I, the little one, Lü, dare to use a black ox and openly announce to the great and august Lord above: I dare not pardon the guilty. The Lord's servants I do not hide; the Lord's own heart chooses. If I am guilty, don't punish the ten thousand peoples for it; if the ten thousand peoples are guilty, let the guilt be on me alone." "Zhou gave out great gifts and made good men rich. Even a close relative of Zhou is not worth as much as a good man. If the people do wrong, the fault is mine alone." He standardized the weights and measures, examined the laws and rules, restored government offices that had lapsed, and the government of the four quarters went forward. He raised up fallen states, restored broken family lines, brought forward men who had walked away from the world, and the hearts of all the people turned to him. What he valued most: the people, food, mourning, and sacrifice. Being generous, he won the crowd; being honest, the people trusted him; being energetic, he got things done; being fair, everyone was pleased.

20.2 Zizhang asked Confucius, "How should a person be to take part in government?" The Master said, "If he honors the five good things and does away with the four bad things, he can take part in government." Zizhang said, "What are the five good things?" The Master said: "To be generous without wasting money, to put people to work without making them resent it, to want things without being greedy, to be at ease without being arrogant, to be impressive without being fierce." Zizhang said, "What does generous without wasting money mean?" The Master said: "Give people benefits by benefiting what they already need — isn't that generosity without waste? Pick work people can reasonably do and put them to it — who will resent it? Want goodness and get goodness — where's the greed? A good man, whether the crowd is big or small, high or low, never slights them — isn't that being at ease without arrogance? A good man straightens his clothes and cap and keeps his gaze serious, so people look at him with respect — isn't that being impressive without being fierce?" Zizhang said, "What are the four bad things?" The Master said: "Killing people without teaching them first is cruelty. Demanding results without warning them is bullying. Issuing careless orders and then cracking down on the deadline is robbery. And when you're giving something to someone, haggling over every little bit that goes out — that's being a petty clerk."

20.3 Confucius said: "If you don't know Heaven's command, you can't be a good man. If you don't know ritual, you can't take your stand. If you don't understand what people say, you can't understand people."