Confucius
- The Analects
- 0708a
Taken
from the internet (translation by James Legge Peter Pauper Press, New York,
1953 - I believe), excerpted, and adjusted for grade level by James Couture.
Chapter 1
III. The Master
said, "Fine words and an ingratiating[1] appearance are seldom connected with
true virtue."
V. The Master
said, "To rule a country of a thousand chariots [i.e. a large country],
there must be: 1) careful attention to
business; 2) sincerity; 3) economical use of money; 4) love for men; 5) the
employment of the people at the proper seasons."
VI. The Master
said, "A youth at home should be a good son. When he is away from home, he should be respectful to his elders.
He should be earnest and truthful. He
should overflow in love to all. He should
make sure to be friends with good people..."
Chapter 2
I. The Master said, "He who rules by means of his virtue may be
compared to the north polar star. This
star keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."
III. The Master
said, "If the people are led by laws with equal and fair punishments, they
will try to avoid the punishment.
However, they will have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue and are made equal [uniform] by rules
of good conduct, they will have a sense of shame. Moreover they will become good of their own free will."
V. Mang asked
what it meant to be a respectful child.
The
Master said, "It is not being disobedient." [...]
Fan
Ch'ih said, "What did you mean?"
The
Master replied, "That living parents should be served according to the
proper rules. When the parents are
dead, they should be buried properly.
Once they are buried, the parents deserve the proper
sacrifices."
VII. Tsze-yu
asked what it meant to be a respectful child. The Master said, "To be a
respectful child nowadays means supporting one's parents. This isn't a big
deal. Even dogs and horses are able to
do something in the way of support.
But, animals have no reverence.
Reverence is the only thing that distinguishes proper support from just
going through the motions."
XV. The Master
said, "Learning without thought is useless work. Thought without learning is dangerous."
XVI. The Master
said, "The study of strange ideas [doctrines] can hurt you!"
XVII. The Master
said, "Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? Knowledge is that when you
know a thing, you know you know it.
When you do not know a thing, you don't pretend you do. This is knowledge."
Chapter 4
II. The Master
said, "Those who are without virtue cannot last long in poverty or
hardship. At the same time, they don't
do well in enjoyment either. The virtuous rest in virtue; the wise desire
virtue."
III. The Master
said, "It is only the truly virtuous man, who can love, or who can hate,
others."
IV. The Master
said, "If the will is set on virtue, there will be no practice of
wickedness."
V. The Master
said, "Riches and honors are what men desire. If they cannot be obtained
in the proper way, they should be avoided. Poverty and low station are what men
dislike. If they cannot be avoided in the proper way, they should be
accepted."
"If
a superior man abandons virtue, can he still be called superior?
"The
superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to
virtue. When he is in a hurry, he sticks to it. When he is in danger, he stays
virtuous."
XI. The Master
said, "The superior man thinks of virtue.
The small man thinks of his property [comfort]. The superior man thinks
of the punishments the law provides.
The small man thinks of favors which he may receive."
Chapter 8
I. The Master
said, "T'ai-po may be said to have reached the highest point of virtuous
action. Three times he declined
becoming emperor..."
II. The Master
said, "If you only pretend to be respectful, it is a worthless show. If you just act careful, without doing it
for a good reason, you are timid. If
you are bold without reason, you are uppity.
If you are bluntly honest without thought to the feelings of others, you
are rude. When the people in high
stations do their job right, the people are aroused to virtue. When the people
in high stations don't favor their old friends, the people are saved from
corruption."
XII. The Master
said, "It is not easy to find a man who has studied for three years
without turning into a good person."
XIII. Master
said, "A good scholar loves learning and remains true to what he has learned
until he dies. He perfects the
excellence of his life."
"A
good scholar will not enter a tottering state.
A good scholar will not live in a disorganized state. When the right principles of government
prevail in a kingdom, a good scholar will go there. When good governmental principles aren't being followed, a good
scholar keeps his head down.
"When
a country is well governed, poverty and low status are things to be ashamed of.
When a country is ill governed, riches and honor are things to be ashamed
of."
Chapter 11
XI. Chi Lu asked
about serving the spirits of the dead.
The Master said, "If you are not able to serve men, how can you
serve their spirits?" Chi Lu
added, "What about death?"
The Master answered, "While you do not know life, how can you know
about death?"
Chapter 12
VII. Tsze-kung
asked about government. The Master said, "The requisites of government are
that there be enough food, enough military equipment, and the confidence of the
people in their ruler."
Tsze-kung
said, "If one had to give up one of these three things, which one would it
be?"
"The
military equipment," said the Master.
Tsze-kung
again asked, "If one had to give up one of the last two, which one would
it be?" The Master answered, "Abandon the food. Death is always there, but if the people
have no faith in their rulers, the state falls."
XI. The Duke
Ching, asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "This is the
key to a good government: when the prince is prince, when the minister is
minister; when the father is father, and when the son is son." [rest of
section cut]
Chapter 13
XI. The Master
said, "If good men were to govern a country for a hundred years running,
they would be able to transform the violently bad, and dispense with the death
penalty."
Chapter 15
XVII. The Master
said, "The superior man always considers righteousness to be essential. He
performs his acts righteously. He is humble.
He is sincere..."
XVIII. The
Master said, "The superior man is distressed when he is unable to do
something. He does not care if he is
well known."
XIX. The Master
said, "The superior man dislikes the thought of his name not being
mentioned after his death."
Chapter 16
IX. Confucius
said, "Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest
class of men. Those who can learn easily are the next. Those who are dull and
stupid but who work hard are the next class.
Those who are dull and stupid and yet do not learn are the lowest of the
people."
Chapter 17
XXV. The Master
said, "Of all people, girls and servants are the most difficult to behave
to. If you are familiar with them, they lose their humility. If you maintain a
reserve towards them, they are discontented."
The
Doctrine of the Mean
XIV. The
superior man does what is proper to his station in life. He does not desire to go beyond his
station.
A
rich and honorable man does what is proper to a person of that station. A lowly poor man does what is proper to his
station. If a man lives amongst
barbarous tribes, he does what is proper in those tribes. If a man experiences sorrow and difficulty,
he does the proper things in that position.
None of these actions change the superior man. He is always himself.
A
powerful man does not treat his inferiors with contempt. A lowly man does not play for favors from
his superiors. The superior man does
the right things and seeks for nothing from others. He does not accuse Heaven of causing his troubles, nor does he
blame other men.
The
superior man is quiet and calm. He
waits for what Heaven brings him. The
inferior man does all sorts of shifty things, hoping for lucky occurrences.
The
Master said, "In archery we have something like the way of the superior
man. When the archer misses the center
of the target, he turns round and seeks the cause of his failure in
himself."