The Sayings Of Confucius Part 4

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.

BOOK V

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.

[Footnote 38: A disciple born in Lu.]

[Footnote 39: The disciple Chung-kung.]

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 take s.h.i.+p 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 Yu[44] slept in the daytime.

[Footnote 40: Tzu-lu.]

[Footnote 41: The disciple Jan Yu.]

[Footnote 42: The disciple Kung-hsi Hua.]

[Footnote 43: The disciple Yen Yuan.]