Chapter 9
Chapter 1
The Master rarely spoke about profit, the decrees of Heaven, or perfect virtue.
Chapter 2
- A man from the village of Ta-hsiang said, “How great Confucius is! His learning is vast, and yet he hasn’t made his name famous in any single field.”
- When the Master heard this, he said to his disciples, “What skill should I take up? Should I become known as a charioteer, or as an archer? I think I’ll go with charioteering.”
Chapter 3
- The Master said, “The linen cap is what the rules of ceremony call for, but these days a silk one is worn instead. Since it’s more economical, I go along with the common practice.
- “The rules of ceremony call for bowing below the hall, but these days people bow only after going up. That is presumptuous. Even though it goes against current practice, I still bow below the hall.”
Chapter 4
There were four things the Master had nothing to do with: he had no fixed opinions in advance, no rigid insistence, no stubbornness, and no self-centeredness.
Chapter 5
- The Master was placed in danger in K’wang.
- He said, “Since the death of King Wan, hasn’t the cause of culture been entrusted to me here?
- “If Heaven meant for this cause to perish, then I, coming later, would never have been given a part in it. Since Heaven has not let this cause perish, what can the people of K’wang do to me?”
Chapter 6
- A high official asked Tsze-kung, “Isn’t your Master a sage? How many things he can do!”
- Tsze-kung replied, “Heaven has surely endowed him without limit—he is close to being a sage. And on top of that, he can do many things.”
- When the Master heard about this exchange, he said, “Does that official really know me? When I was young, I was in low circumstances, and that’s why I picked up skill in many ordinary things. Does the superior man need to be skilled in many things? No, he doesn’t.”
- Lao said, “The Master also said, ‘Because I held no official post, I learned many arts.’”
Chapter 7
The Master said, “Do I really possess knowledge? I don’t. But if even an uneducated person comes to me with a question, however empty-headed they may seem, I work it through from one end to the other and explore it fully.”
Chapter 8
The Master said, “The phoenix does not come; the river yields no chart. It’s all over for me!”
Chapter 9
Whenever the Master saw someone in mourning clothes, or someone in the cap and full ceremonial dress, or a blind person, even if they were younger than he was, he would rise as they approached; and if he had to walk past them, he would do so quickly.
Chapter 10
- Yen Yuan, full of admiration for the Master’s teachings, sighed and said, “I look up to them, and they grow ever higher. I try to dig into them, and they grow ever more solid. I see them before me, and suddenly they seem to be behind.
- “The Master leads people forward, step by step, with skill. He broadened my mind with learning and disciplined me with the rules of proper conduct.
- “When I want to give up studying his doctrines, I can’t. After I’ve used all my strength, there still seems to be something standing right in front of me; and though I want to reach it and grasp it, I find no way to do so.”
Chapter 11
- When the Master was gravely ill, Tsze-lu wanted the disciples to act as official attendants for him.
- During a recovery in his illness, the Master said, “Yu has been keeping up this pretense a long time! Pretending I have ministers when I don’t—whom am I trying to fool? Am I trying to fool Heaven?
- “Besides, wouldn’t I rather die in the care of my disciples than in the care of ministers? And even if I don’t get a grand funeral, am I going to die out on the road?”
Chapter 12
Tsze-kung said, “Suppose there’s a beautiful gem here. Should I store it away in a case and keep it? Or should I look for a good price and sell it?” The Master said, “Sell it! Sell it! But I would wait for the right buyer to come along.”
Chapter 13
- The Master wanted to go and live among the nine wild tribes of the east.
- Someone said, “They are uncivilized. How could you do such a thing?” The Master replied, “If a superior man lived among them, what lack of civilization would there be?”
Chapter 14
The Master said, “It was after I returned from Wei to Lu that the music was set right, and the pieces of the Royal songs and Praise songs each found their proper place.”
Chapter 15
The Master said, “Serving high ministers and nobles when away from home; serving one’s father and elder brothers at home; doing one’s utmost in all duties owed to the dead; and not being overcome by wine—which of these have I really managed?”
Chapter 16
Standing beside a stream, the Master said, “It flows on just like this, never stopping day or night!”
Chapter 17
The Master said, “I have not seen anyone who loves virtue the way they love physical beauty.”
Chapter 18
The Master said, “Pursuing learning is like building up a mound. If I stop when just one more basket of earth would finish it, the stopping is my own doing. It is also like leveling ground by dumping earth: even though I add only one basketful at a time, each step forward is my own.”
Chapter 19
The Master said, “Never slacking off when I explain something to him—ah, that’s Hui!”
Chapter 20
Speaking of Yen Yuan, the Master said, “What a loss! I watched him constantly moving forward. I never saw him come to a halt.”
Chapter 21
The Master said, “Some plants sprout but never go on to flower. Some flower but never go on to bear fruit.”
Chapter 22
The Master said, “A young person deserves respect. How do we know that the future will not equal what we have today? But if someone reaches forty or fifty and still hasn’t become known for anything, then indeed they no longer deserve such respect.”
Chapter 25
The Master said, “Can anyone refuse to agree with words of stern correction? But what really matters is changing one’s conduct because of them. Can anyone fail to be pleased by words of gentle advice? But what really matters is grasping their point. If someone is pleased by such words but doesn’t grasp their point, or agrees with the stern words but doesn’t change their conduct, then there is really nothing I can do for them.”
Chapter 24
The Master said, “Take faithfulness and sincerity as your guiding principles. Don’t have friends who are not your equals. When you have faults, don’t be afraid to give them up.”
Chapter 25
The Master said, “The commanding general of a large state can be captured, but the will of even an ordinary man cannot be taken from him.”
Chapter 26
- The Master said, “Wearing a tattered hemp-quilted robe while standing among men dressed in furs, and not ashamed—ah, that’s something Yu can do!
- “‘He envies no one and craves nothing—how could he do anything but good!’”
- Tsze-lu kept repeating these lines from the ode, until the Master said, “Just that isn’t enough to count as full excellence.”
Chapter 27
The Master said, “When the year turns cold, that’s when we see that the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves.”
Chapter 28
The Master said, “The wise are free of perplexity, the virtuous free of anxiety, the bold free of fear.”
Chapter 29
The Master said, “There are people you can study with, but who can’t go on with you to grasp the underlying principles. There are some you can go on with to those principles, but who can’t take a firm stand on them with you. And there are some who can take that firm stand with you, but who can’t weigh circumstances alongside you as they arise.”
Chapter 30
- “The flowers of the aspen-plum flutter and sway! How could I not think of you? But your house is so far away.”
- The Master said, “He just isn’t really thinking of her. If he were, how could distance matter?”
