The Master Seldom Spoke子罕第九

A man of the village of Daxiang said, "Great is Confucius! He has learned widely, but he has made no name in any one thing." The Master heard it and said to his disciples, "What shall I take up? Shall I take up the reins? Shall I take up the bow? I will take up the reins."

The Master said, "A hemp cap is what ritual calls for. Nowadays plain silk is used, which is thriftier, and here I follow the crowd. To bow at the foot of the hall is what ritual calls for. Nowadays men bow at the top of the hall, which is presumptuous. Here, though it goes against the crowd, I follow the way of bowing below."

The Master cut off four things. He did not guess at things. He did not insist on certainty. He was not stubborn. He did not put himself forward.

When the Master was in danger at Kuang, he said, "King Wen is long dead, but is this culture not here in me? If Heaven meant to destroy this culture, one who came after him would not have had a share in it. Since Heaven has not destroyed this culture, what can the men of Kuang do to me?"

The prime minister asked Zigong, "Is your Master a sage? How is it that he is able in so many things?" Zigong said, "Heaven surely let him become a great sage, and he is able in many things besides." The Master heard it and said, "The prime minister knows me. When I was young I was lowly, so I became able in many humble tasks. Is the noble man able in many things? He is not."

Lao (牢) said, "The Master said, 'I was never put to use, and so I have many skills.'"

The Master said, "Have I knowledge? I have no knowledge. But when a simple man puts a question to me, and my mind seems quite empty, I knock at both ends of the matter and give him all there is."

The Master said, "The phoenix does not come. The Yellow River gives up no chart. It is all over with me!"

When the Master saw a man in mourning dress, a man in cap and court robes, or a blind man, he always rose, even if the man was young, and when he passed such a man he always quickened his step.

Yan Yuan said with a deep sigh, "The more I look up at it, the higher it is. The more I bore into it, the harder it is. I look for it ahead of me, and suddenly it is behind. The Master leads a man on step by step. He broadened me with letters and drew me in with ritual. I want to stop and cannot. I have spent all my powers, and still something stands out before me, high above. I want to follow it, but I find no road."

The Master was gravely ill, and Zilu had the disciples act as his household retainers. When the illness eased, the Master said, "How long You has been practicing this deceit! To have no retainers and pretend to have them — whom would I deceive? Would I deceive Heaven? And would I not rather die in the hands of you, my disciples, than in the hands of retainers? And even if I am not given a grand funeral, am I going to die by the roadside?"

Zigong said, "If there were a fine jade here, would you hide it away in a case, or would you look for a good price and sell it?" The Master said, "Sell it! Sell it! I am one who waits for the price."

The Master wished to live among the Nine Yi (九夷). Someone said, "They are crude. How could you?" The Master said, "Where a noble man lives, what crudeness is there?"

The Master said, "It was after I came back to Lu from Wei that the music was set right, and the Ya (雅) and the Song (頌) each found their proper place."

The Master said, "Abroad, to serve the high ministers. At home, to serve father and elder brothers. In funeral matters, never to dare hold back one's effort. Not to be undone by wine. What difficulty is there in this for me?"

Standing by a stream the Master said, "What passes is like this. It does not stop, day or night."

The Master said, "I have yet to see a man who loves virtue as he loves a beautiful face."

The Master said, "It is like raising a mound. If I stop one basketful short of finishing, the stopping is mine. It is like leveling ground. Though I have poured out only one basketful, if I go on, the going on is mine."

The Master said, "The one who never slackens when he is told something — that is Hui!"

The Master said of Yan Yuan, "What a loss! I saw him go forward. I never saw him stop."

The Master said, "There are those that sprout but never flower. There are those that flower but never bear fruit."

The Master said, "Those born after us are to be held in awe. How do we know that those to come will not match what we are now? But a man of forty or fifty who is still unheard of is not worth holding in awe."

The Master said, "Can a man fail to follow words that set him straight? What matters is that he change. Can a man fail to be pleased by words that gently guide him? What matters is that he think them through. To be pleased and not think them through, to follow and not change — with such a man I can do nothing."

The Master said, "Hold loyalty and good faith first. Do not make friends of those who are not your equals. When you are at fault, do not shrink from changing."

The Master said, "The three armies can be robbed of their commander, but a common man cannot be robbed of his will."

The Master said, "The one who can stand in a worn quilted coat beside men in fox and badger furs, and feel no shame — that is You! 'He does no harm and covets nothing. How could he be anything but good?'" Zilu wanted to recite these lines for the rest of his life. The Master said, "This way of his — how is that enough to be called good?"

The Master said, "Only when the year turns cold do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to wither."

The Master said, "The wise are not led astray. The humane do not worry. The brave are not afraid."

The Master said, "There are men we can learn with, but cannot walk the Way with. There are men we can walk the Way with, but cannot take a stand with. There are men we can take a stand with, but cannot weigh matters with (權道)."

"The blossoms of the wild cherry flutter and turn. How should I not think of you? But your house is far away." The Master said, "He simply does not think of her. Where is the distance in that?"