The Sayings of Confucius.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
XII
The Master said: “Love is to conquer self and turn to courtesy. Could we conquer self and turn to courtesy for but one day, all mankind would turn to love. Does love flow from within, or does it flow from others?”
Yen Yüan said: “May I ask what are its signs?”
The Master said: “To be ever courteous of eye and ever courteous of ear; to be ever courteous in word and ever courteous in deed.”
Yen Yüan said: “Dull as I am, I hope to live by these words.”
The Master said: “Without the door to behave as though a great guest were come; to treat the people as though we tendered the high sacrifice; not to do unto others what we would not they should do unto us; to breed no wrongs in the state and breed no wrongs in the home.”
Chung-kung said: “Dull as I am, I hope to live by these words.”
The Master said: “Love is slow to speak.”
“To be slow to speak! Can that be called love?”
The Master said: “That which is hard to do, can it be lightly spoken?”
The Master said: “A gentleman knows neither sorrow nor fear.”
“No sorrow and no fear! Can that be called a gentleman?”
The Master said: “He finds no sin in his heart, so why should he sorrow, what should he fear?”
Tzu-hsia said: “I have heard that life and death are allotted, that wealth and honours are in Heaven’s hand. A gentleman is careful and does not trip; he is humble towards others and courteous. All within the four seas are brethren; how can a gentleman mourn his lack of them?”
The Master said: “To be unmoved by lap and wash of slander, or by plaints that pierce to the quick, may be called insight. Yea, whom lap and wash of slander, or plaints that pierce to the quick cannot move may be called far-sighted.”
The Master said: “Food enough, troops enough, and a trusting people.”
Tzu-kung said: “Were there no help for it, which could best be spared of the three?’
“Troops,” said the Master.
“And were there no help for it, which could better be spared of the other two?”
“Food,” said the Master. “From of old all men die, but without trust a people cannot stand.”
“Alas! my lord,” said Tzu-kung, “how ye speak of a gentleman! No team overtakes the tongue! Nature is no more than art; art is no more than nature. Without the fur, a tiger or a leopard’s hide is as the hide of a dog, or goat.”
“Ye might tithe the people,” answered Yu Jo.
“A fifth is all too little,” said the duke; “how could a tenth avail?”
“When the people all live in plenty,” answered Yu Jo, “will the king alone be in want? If the people are all in want, can the king alone live in plenty?”
The Master said: “Make faithfulness and truth thy masters, and follow the right; the mind will be raised. We wish life to things we love, death to things we hate. To wish them both life and death is a delusion.
Confucius answered: “When the king is king and the minister is minister; when the father is father and the son is son.”
“True indeed!” said the duke. “Were the king no king and the minister no minister, were the father no father and the son no son, could I get aught to eat, though the grain were there?
Tzu-lu never slept over a promise.
The Master said: “To be tireless of spirit and faithful at work.”
Confucius answered: “To rule is to set straight. If we give an upright lead, sir, who will dare walk crooked?”
Confucius answered: “But for your greed, sir, though ye rewarded thieves, no man would steal.”
Confucius answered: “Sir, what need has a ruler to kill? Were ye set on good, sir, your people would do good. The king’s mind is the wind, and grass are the minds of the people: whither the wind blows, thither the grass bends.”
The Master said: “A good question! Rate the task above the prize; will not the mind be raised? Fight thine own faults, not the faults of others; will not evil be mended? One angry morning to forget both self and kin, is that no error?”
The Master said: “To love mankind.”
He asked, What is wisdom?
The Master said: “To know mankind.”
Fan Ch´ih did not understand.
The Master said: “Exalt the straight, put aside the crooked; the crooked will grow straight.”
Fan Ch´ih withdrew, and meeting Tzu-hsia, said to him: “I was received by the Master and asked him ‘What is wisdom?’ The Master answered: ‘Exalt the straight, put aside the crooked; the crooked will grow straight.’ What did he mean?”
“How rich a saying!” said Tzu-hsia. “When Shun was lord of the earth, he chose Kao-yao from the many, exalted him, and evil vanished. When T´ang was lord of the earth, he chose Yi-yin from the many, exalted him, and evil vanished.”
The Master said: “Talk faithfully to them: guide them with skill. If this prove vain, stop. Do not court shame.”
Tseng-tzu said: “A gentleman gathers friends by culture and props love with friendship.”