Chapter 2
Chapter 1
The Master said, “A ruler who governs through his own virtue is like the North Star: it stays in its place while all the other stars turn around it.”
Chapter 2
The Master said, “The Book of Poetry contains three hundred pieces, but their whole purpose can be summed up in one phrase: ‘Have no twisted thoughts.’”
Chapter 3
- The Master said, “If you guide the people with laws and try to keep them in line with punishments, they will avoid the punishments but feel no shame.”
- “If you guide them with virtue and keep them in line through rules of proper conduct, they will have a sense of shame and will also become good.”
Chapter 4
- The Master said, “At fifteen, I set my mind on learning.
- “At thirty, I stood firm.
- “At forty, I had no more doubts.
- “At fifty, I understood the decrees of Heaven.
- “At sixty, my ear took in the truth without resistance.
- “At seventy, I could follow whatever my heart desired without crossing the line of what was right.”
Chapter 5
- Mang I asked about filial piety. The Master said, “It means not being disobedient.”
- Later, when Fan Ch’ih was driving him, the Master mentioned this, saying, “Mang-sun asked me what filial piety is, and I told him: not being disobedient.”
- Fan Ch’ih asked, “What did you mean by that?” The Master replied, “That while parents are alive, serve them according to proper conduct; when they die, bury them according to proper conduct; and offer sacrifices to them according to proper conduct.”
Chapter 6
Mang Wu asked about filial piety. The Master said, “Parents worry above all about their children getting sick.”
Chapter 7
Tsze-yu asked about filial piety. The Master said, “Filial piety these days just means providing for one’s parents. But people also provide for their dogs and horses—without reverence, what’s the difference?”
Chapter 8
Tsze-hsia asked about filial piety. The Master said, “The hard part is the expression on your face. If the young simply take on the hard work when elders have something burdensome to do, and serve their elders the wine and food when they have it—is that really filial piety?”
Chapter 9
The Master said, “I have talked with Hui for an entire day, and he never raised an objection to anything I said, as though he were dim. But after he left, I observed how he behaved on his own, and found that he was able to put my teachings into practice. Hui—he is not dim at all.”
Chapter 10
- The Master said, “Look at what a man does.
- “Notice his motives.
- “Consider what gives him peace.
- “How can a man hide his true character?
- “How can a man hide his true character?”
Chapter 11
The Master said, “Someone who keeps reviewing what he has learned and continually gains new understanding from it is fit to be a teacher of others.”
Chapter 12
The Master said, “The accomplished scholar is not a tool.”
Chapter 13
Tsze-kung asked what makes a superior man. The Master said, “He acts first, and then his words follow his actions.”
Chapter 14
The Master said, “The superior man is inclusive and not factional. The petty man is factional and not inclusive.”
Chapter 15
The Master said, “Learning without thinking is wasted effort; thinking without learning is dangerous.”
Chapter 16
The Master said, “Studying strange doctrines—now that is truly harmful!”
Chapter 17
The Master said, “Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know something, recognize that you know it; when you don’t know something, admit that you don’t know it. That is knowledge.”
Chapter 18
- Tsze-chang was studying with the goal of earning an official salary.
- The Master said, “Listen widely, set aside whatever is doubtful, and speak carefully about the rest—then you will give few grounds for blame. Observe widely, set aside whatever seems risky, and act carefully on the rest—then you will have few regrets. If a man gives few grounds for blame in what he says and few regrets in what he does, he is well on his way to earning his salary.”
Chapter 19
Duke Ai asked, “What should I do to gain the submission of the people?” Confucius replied, “Promote the upright and set aside the crooked, and the people will submit. Promote the crooked and set aside the upright, and the people will not submit.”
Chapter 20
Chi K’ang asked how to get the people to revere their ruler, be loyal to him, and rouse themselves to virtue. The Master said, “Preside over them with dignity, and they will revere you. Be filial and kind to all, and they will be loyal. Promote the good and teach those who fall short, and they will eagerly strive for virtue.”
Chapter 21
- Someone said to Confucius, “Sir, why are you not taking part in government?”
- The Master said, “What does the Shu-ching say about filial piety? ‘Be filial, do your duty as a brother. These qualities carry over into government.’ That too is taking part in government. Why should holding office be the only way to count?”
Chapter 22
The Master said, “I don’t see how a man without trustworthiness can get anywhere. How can a large carriage move without the crossbar that yokes the oxen, or a small carriage without the fitting that yokes the horses?”
Chapter 23
- Tsze-chang asked whether one could know what would happen ten generations from now.
- Confucius said, “The Yin dynasty followed the institutions of the Hsia; what they took away and what they added can be known. The Chau dynasty followed the institutions of the Yin; what they took away and what they added can be known. Some dynasty will follow the Chau, and even at a distance of a hundred generations, its affairs can be known.”
Chapter 24
- The Master said, “To sacrifice to a spirit that is not yours to honor is flattery.”
- “To see what is right and fail to do it is cowardice.”
