When he was about to mount his carriage, he would stand straight, holding the cord. 2. When he was in the carriage, he did not turn his head quite round, he did not talk hastily, he did not point with his hands.
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The philosopher Tsang said, 'The superior man on grounds of culture meets with his friends, and by their friendship helps his virtue.'
When he was carrying the scepter of his ruler, he seemed to bend his body, as if he were not able to bear its weight. He did not hold it higher than the position of the hands in making a bow, nor lower than their position in giving anything to another. His countenance seemed to change, and look apprehensive, and he dragged his feet along as if they were held by something to the ground. 2. In presenting the presents with which he was charged, he wore a placid appearance. 3. At his private audience, he looked highly pleased.
The Master said, 'The superior man is affable, but not adulatory; the mean man is adulatory, but not affable.'
The Master said, 'The commander of the forces of a large state may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him.'
Hsien asked what was shameful. The Master said, 'When good government prevails in a state, to be thinking only of salary; and, when bad government prevails, to be thinking, in the same way, only of salary;-- this is shameful.'
The Analects — Chapter 13: Book XIII: Tsze-Lu
The Master said of Yen Yuan, 'Alas! I saw his constant advance. I never saw him stop in his progress.'
The Master said, 'If a truly royal ruler were to arise, it would still require a generation, and then virtue would prevail.'
The superior man did not use a deep purple, or a puce colour, in the ornaments of his dress. 2. Even in his undress, he did not wear anything of a red or reddish colour. 3. In warm weather, he had a single garment either of coarse or fine texture, but he wore it displayed over an inner garment. 4. Over lamb's fur he wore a garment of black; over fawn's fur one of white; and over fox's fur one of yellow. 5. The fur robe of his undress was long, with the right sleeve short. 6. He required his sleeping dress to be half as long again as his body. 7. When staying at home, he used thick furs of the fox or the badger. 8. When he put off mourning, he wore all the appendages of the girdle. 9. His under-garment, except when it was required to be of the curtain shape, was made of silk cut narrow above and wide below. 10. He did not wear lamb's fur or a black cap, on a visit of condolence. 11. On the first day of the month he put on his court robes, and presented himself at court.
The Master said, 'The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.'
The Master said, 'Am I indeed possessed of knowledge? I am not knowing. But if a mean person, who appears quite empty-like, ask anything of me, I set it forth from one end to the other, and exhaust it.'
Chi Tsze-ch'ang said, 'In a superior man it is only the substantial qualities which are wanted;-- why should we seek for ornamental accomplishments?' 2. Tsze-kung said, 'Alas! Your words, sir, show you to be a superior man, but four horses cannot overtake the tongue. 3. Ornament is as substance; substance is as ornament. The hide of a tiger or a leopard stripped of its hair, is like the hide of a dog or a goat stripped of its hair.'
The Master said, 'Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it. 2. 'How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!'
Tsze-kung said, 'Kwan Chung, I apprehend, was wanting in virtue. When the Duke Hwan caused his brother Chiu to be killed, Kwan Chung was not able to die with him. Moreover, he became prime minister to Hwan.' 2. The Master said, 'Kwan Chung acted as prime minister to the Duke Hwan, made him leader of all the princes, and united and rectified the whole kingdom. Down to the present day, the people enjoy the gifts which he conferred. But for Kwan Chung, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappets of our coats buttoning on the left side. 3. 'Will you require from him the small fidelity of common men and common women, who would commit suicide in a stream or ditch, no one knowing anything about them?'
The Master said, 'The superior man is distressed by his want of ability. He is not distressed by men's not knowing him.'
The Master said, 'Some men of worth retire from the world. 2. Some retire from particular states. 3. Some retire because of disrespectful looks. 4. Some retire because of contradictory language.'
The Master said, 'The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.'
Chi K'ang asked Confucius about government, saying, 'What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?' Confucius replied, 'Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. 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 governments of Lu and Wei are brothers.'