Still getting used to this new WordPress editor. It looks clean…
Recently finished The Analects of Confucius. It’s boring lol. But we read it for the gems, of which there are aplenty:
- Zi Xia said, “If a man withdraws his mind from the love of beauty, and applies it as sincerely to the love of the virtuous; if, in serving his parents, he can exert his utmost strength; if, in serving his prince, he can devote his life; if, in his intercourse with his friends, his words are sincere -although men say that he has not learned, I will certainly say that he has.”
- The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.
- The Master said of Zi Chan that he had four of the characteristics of a superior man -in his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superior, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just.
- The Master said, “The sage and the man of perfect virtue -how dare I rank myself with them? It may simply be said of me, that I strive to become such without satiety, and teach others without weariness.”
- There were four things from which the Master was entirely free. He had no foregone conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinacy, and no egoism.
- The Master said, “Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”
- The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.
- The Master said, “The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.”
- Some one asked about him, saying, “I suppose he has made great progress.” The Master said, “I observe that he is fond of occupying the seat of a full-grown man; I observe that he walks shoulder to shoulder with his elders. He is not one who is seeking to make progress in learning. He wishes quickly to become a man.”
- Zi Gong asked, saying, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” The Master said, “Is not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
- Confucius said, “There are three friendships which are advantageous, and three which are injurious. Friendship with the uplight; friendship with the sincere; and friendship with the man of much observation -these are advantageous. Friendship with the man of specious airs; friendship with the insinuatingly soft; and friendship with the glib-tongued -these are injurious.”
- Confucius said, “There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, he guards against lust. When he is strong and the physical powers are full of vigor, he guards against quarrelsomeness. When he is old, and the animal powers are decayed, he guards against covetousness.”
- With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow – I have still joy in the midst of these things