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Shorn of love, is a gentleman worthy of the name? Not for one moment may a gentleman sin against love; he must not do so in flurry and haste, nor do so in utter overthrow.
6. The Master said, I have seen no one that loves love and hates uncharity. He that loves love will set nothing higher. The hater of uncharity is so given to love that no uncharity can enter into his life. If a man were to give his strength to love for one day, I have seen no one whose strength would fail him. There may be such men, but I have not seen one.
7. The Master said, A man and his faults are of a piece. By watching his faults we learn whether love be his.[14]
8. The Master said, To learn the Way at daybreak and die at eve were enough.
9. The Master said, A knight[36] in quest of the Way, who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, it is idle talking to.
10. The Master said, A gentleman has no likes or dislikes below heaven. He follows right.
11. The Master said, The gentleman cherishes mind, the small man cherishes dirt. Gentlemen trust in the law, the small man trusts in favour.
12. The Master said, The chase of gain is rich in hate.
13. The Master said, What is it to sway a kingdom by courteous yielding? If we cannot sway a kingdom by courteous yielding, what is our courtesy worth?
14. The Master said, Care not for want of place; care for thy readiness to fill one. Care not for being unknown, but seek to be worthy of note.
15. The Master said, One line, Shen,[37] runs through my Way.
Yes, said Tseng-tzu.
After the Master had left, the disciples asked what was meant.
Tseng-tzu said, The Master's Way is no more than faithfulness and fellow-feeling.
16. The Master said, The gentleman is learned in right; the small man is learned in gain.
17. The Master said, At sight of worth, think to grow like it; at sight of baseness, search thyself within.
18. The Master said, A father or a mother may be gently chidden. If thou seest they have no will to follow thee, be the more lowly, but do not give way; nor murmur at the trouble they give thee.
19. The Master said, Whilst thy father and mother are living, do not wander afar. If thou must travel, hold a set course.
20. The Master said, He that changes nothing in his father's ways for three years may be called pious.
21. The Master said, A father and mother's years must be borne in mind; with gladness on the one hand and fear on the other.
22. The Master said, The men of old were loth to speak, for not to live up to their words would have shamed them.
23. The Master said, We shall seldom get lost if we hold to main lines.
24. The Master said, A gentleman wishes to be slow to speak and quick to do.
25. The Master said, A great soul is never friendless: he has always neighbours.
26. Tzu-yu said, Nagging at kings brings disgrace, nagging at friends estrangement.
[36] Shih: a gentleman entitled to bear arms, not a knight in armour.
[37] The disciple Tseng-tzu.
1. Of Kung-yeh Ch'ang the Master said, A girl might be wedded to him. Though he has been in fetters that was not his crime.
He gave him his daughter to wed.
Of Nan Jung the Master said, When the land keeps the Way he will not be neglected; and if the land loses the Way he will escape punishment and death.
He gave him his brother's daughter to wed.
2. Of Tzu-chien[38] the Master said, What a gentleman he is! But if there were no gentlemen in Lu, where could he have picked it up?
3. Tzu-kung asked, And what of me?
Thou art a vessel, said the Master.
What kind of vessel?
A rich temple vessel.
4. One said, Yung[39] has love, but he is not glib.
The Master said, What is the good of being glib? Fighting men with tongue-craft mostly makes men hate you. Whether love be his I do not know, but what is the good of being glib?
5. The Master moved Ch'i-tiao K'ai to take office.
He answered, For this I want confidence.
The Master was pleased.
6. The Master said, Forsaken is the Way! I must [17]take ship and stem the seas; and Yu[40] shall go with me.
When Tzu-lu heard this he was glad.
The Master said, Yu loves daring more than I do, but he is at a loss how to take things.
7. Meng Wu asked whether Tzu-lu had love.
I do not know, said the Master.
He asked again.
A land of a thousand chariots might give Yu charge of its levies; but whether love be his I do not know.
And how about Ch'iu?[41]
A town of a thousand households, a clan of an hundred chariots might make Ch'iu governor; but whether love be his I do not know.
And how about Ch'ih?[42]
Standing in the court, girt with his sash, Ch'ih might entertain the guests; but whether love be his I do not know.
8. The Master said to Tzu-kung, Which is the better man, thou or Hui[43]?
He answered, How dare I look as high as Hui? When Hui hears one thing, he understands ten; when I hear one thing I understand two.
The Master said, Thou art not his like. Neither art thou his like, nor am I.
9. Tsai Yü[44] slept in the daytime.
The Master said, Rotten wood cannot be carved, [18]nor are dung walls plastered. Why chide with Yü?
The Master said, When I first met men I listened to their words and took their deeds on trust. When I meet them now, I listen to their words and watch their deeds. I righted this on Yü.
10. The Master said, I have met no firm man.
One answered, Shen Ch'ang.
The Master said, Ch'ang is passionate; how can he be firm?
11. Tzu-kung said, What I do not wish done to me, I likewise wish not to do to others.
The Master said, That is still beyond thee, Tz'u.
12. Tzu-kung said, To hear the Master on his art and precepts is granted us; but to hear him on man's nature and the Way of Heaven is not.
13. Until Tzu-lu could do what he had heard, his only fear was to hear more.
14. Tzu-kung asked, Why was K'ung-wen called cultured?
The Master said, He was quick and loved learning; he was not ashamed to ask those beneath him: that is why he was called cultured.
15. The Master said, Of the ways of a gentleman Tzu-ch'an had four. His life was modest; he honoured those that he served. He was kind in feeding the people, and he was just in his calls upon them.
16. The Master said, Yen P'ing was a good friend. The longer he knew you, the more attentive he grew.
