1　The Master said, Now Yung, for example. I should not mind setting him with his face to the south. Jan Yung then asked about Tzu-sang Po-tzu. The Master said, He too would do. He is lax. Jan Yung said, I can understand that such a man might do as a ruler, provided he were scrupulous in his own conduct and lax only in his dealings with the people. But you would admit that a man who was lax in his own conduct as well as in government would be too lax. The Master said, What Yung says is quite true.

2　Duke Ai asked which of the disciples had a love of learning. Master K'ung answered him saying, There was Yen Hui. He had a great love of learning. He never vented his wrath upon the innocent nor let others suffer for his faults. Unfortunately the span of life allotted to him by Heaven was short, and he died. At present there are none or at any rate I have heard of none who are fond of learning.

3　When Kung-hsi Hua was sent on a mission to Ch'i, Master Jan asked that Hua's mother might be granted an allowance of grain. The Master said, Give her a cauldron full. Jan said that was not enough. The Master said, Give her a measure. Master Jan gave her five bundles. The Master said, When Ch'ih went to Ch'i he drove sleek horses and was wrapped in light furs. There is a saying, A gentleman helps out the necessitous; he does not make the rich richer still. When Yüan Ssu was made a governor, he was given an allowance of nine hundred measures of grain, but declined it. The Master said, Surely you could find people who would be glad of it among your neighbours or in your village?

4　The Master said of Jan Yung, If the offspring of a brindled ox is ruddy-coated and has grown its horns, however much people might hesitate to use it, would the hills and streams really reject it?

5　The Master said, Hui is capable of occupying his whole mind for three months on end with no thought but that of Goodness. The others can do so, some for a day, some even for a month; but that is all.

6　Chi K'ang-tzu asked whether Tzu-lu was the right sort of person to put into office. The Master said, Yu is efficient. It goes without saying that he is capable of holding office. Chi K'ang-tzu said, How about Tzu-kung? Would he be the right sort of person to put into office? The Master said, He can turn his merits to account It goes without saying, that he is capable of holding office. Chi K'ang-tzu said, How about Jan Ch'iu? Would he be the right sort of person to put into office? The Master said, He is versatile. It goes without saying that he is capable of holding office.

7　The Chi Family wanted to make Min Tzu-ch'ien governor of Pi. Min Tzu-ch'ien said, Invent a polite excuse for me. If that is not accepted and they try to get at me again, I shall certainly install myself on the far side of the Wên.

8　When Jan Kêng was ill, the Master went to enquire after him, and grasping his hand through the window said, It is all over with him! Heaven has so ordained it— But that such a man should have such an illness! That such a man should have such an illness!

9　The Master said, Incomparable indeed was Hui! A handful of rice to eat, a gourdful of water to drink, living in a mean street—others would have found it unendurably depressing, but to Hui's cheerfulness it made no difference at all. Incomparable indeed was Hui!

10　Jan Ch'iu said, It is not that your Way does not commend itself to me, but that it demands powers I do not possess. The Master said, He whose strength gives out collapses during the course of the journey (the Way); but you deliberately draw the line.

11　The Master said to Tzu-hsia, You must practise the ju of gentlemen, not that of the common people.

12　When Tzu-yu was Warden of the castle of Wu, the Master said, Have you managed to get hold of the right sort of people there? Tzu-yu said, There is someone called T'an-t'ai Mieh-ming who 'walks on no bypaths'. He has not once come to my house except on public business.

13　The Master said, Mêng Chih-fan is no boaster. When his people were routed he was the last to flee; but when they neared the city-gate, he whipped up his horses, saying, It was not courage that kept me behind. My horses were slow.

14　The Master said, Without the eloquence of the priest T'o and the beauty of Prince Ch'ao of Sung it is hard nowadays to get through.

15　The Master said, Who expects to be able to go out of a house except by the door? How is it then that no one follows this Way of ours?

16　The Master said, When natural substance prevails over ornamentation, you get the boorishness of the rustic. When ornamentation prevails over natural substance, you get the pedantry of the scribe. Only when ornament and substance are duly blended do you get the true gentleman.

17　The Master said, Man's very life is honesty, in that without it he will be lucky indeed if he escapes with his life.

18　The Master said, To prefer it is better than only to know it. To delight in it is better than merely to prefer it.

19　The Master said, To men who have risen at all above the middling sort, one may talk of things higher yet. But to men who are at all below the middling sort it is useless to talk of things that are above them.

20　Fan Ch'ih asked about wisdom. The Master said, He who devotes himself to securing for his subjects what it is right they should have, who by respect for the Spirits keeps them at a distance, may be termed wise. He asked about Goodness. The Master said, Goodness cannot be obtained till what is difficult has been duly done. He who has done this may be called Good.

21　The Master said, The wise man delights in water, the Good man delights in mountains. For the wise move; but the Good stay still. The wise are happy; but the Good, secure.

22　A single change could bring Ch'i to the level of Lu; and a single change would bring Lu to the Way.

23　The Master said, A hom-gourd that is neither hom nor gourd! A pretty hom-gourd indeed, a pretty hom-gourd indeed.

24　Tsai Yü asked saying, I take it a Good Man, even if he were told that another Good Man were at the bottom of a well, would go to join him? The Master said, Why should you think so? 'A gentleman can be broken, but cannot be dented; may be deceived, but cannot be led astray.

24　(Paraphrased). Tsai Yü half playfully asked whether, since the Good always go to where other Good Men are, a Good Man would leap into a well on hearing that there was another Good Man at the bottom of it. Confucius, responding in the same playful spirit, quotes a maxim about the true gentleman, solely for the sake of the reference in it to hsien, which means 'throw down' into a pit or well, but also has the sense 'to pit', 'to dent'.

25　The Master said, A gentleman who is widely versed in letters and at the same time knows how to submit his learning to the restraints of ritual is not likely, I think, to go far wrong.

26　When the Master went to see Nan-tzu, Tzu-lu was not pleased. Whereupon the Master made a solemn declaration concerning his visit, saying, Whatsoever I have done amiss, may Heaven avert it, may Heaven avert it!

27　The Master said, How transcendent is the moral power of the Middle Use! That it is but rarely found among the common people is a fact long admitted.

28　Tzu-kung said, If a ruler not only conferred wide benefits upon the common people, but also compassed the salvation of the whole State, what would you say of him? Surely, you would call him Good? The Master said, It would no longer be a matter of 'Good'. He would without doubt be a Divine Sage. Even Yao and Shun could hardly criticise him. As for Goodness—you yourself desire rank and standing; then help others to get rank and standing. You want to turn your own merits to account; then help others to turn theirs to account—in fact, the ability to take one's own feelings as a guide—that is the sort of thing that lies in the direction of Goodness. I2Qs3T4rFvh60CrZkIbYZOj4g8+Pflf8QNKUY0obegQv8Euh4eqvZTC69tJYbOQ6