XV.1. Ling, prince of Wei, questioned Confucius about the art of drawing up armies in battle. Confucius replied:
— I have been taught the manner of arranging the stands and the wooden vessels for the sacrifices; I have not learned to command armies.
Confucius departed the very next day. In the principality of Chen, provisions failed him. His companions were weakened by hunger; none of them had the strength to rise any longer. Zilu, indignant, presented himself before him and said:
— Is the sage also liable to lack everything?
— The sage, replied the Master, remains constant and courageous in distress. A vulgar man, in distress, no longer knows any law.
子曰：“赐也，如以予为多学而识之者与？”对曰：“然。非与？”曰：“非也。予一以贯之。”
XV.2. The Master said:
— Ci, do you consider me a man who has learned much and retained much?
— Yes, replied Zigong. Am I mistaken?
— You are mistaken, replied Confucius. A single thing gives me the understanding of everything.
子曰：“由，知德者鲜矣。”
XV.3. The Master said:
— You, few men know virtue.
Notes: He who does not possess it can know neither its nature nor its charms.
子曰：“无为而治者，其舜也与？夫何为哉。恭己正南面而已矣。”
XV.4. The Master said:
— Shun was a prince who, almost without needing to do anything, maintained the empire in perfect order. What did he do? He watched attentively over himself and held himself gravely, his face turned toward the south.
子张问行。子曰：“言忠信，行笃敬，虽蛮貊之邦行矣。言不忠信，行不笃敬，虽州里行乎哉？立，则见其参于前也；在舆，则见其倚于衡也。夫然后行。”子张书诸绅。
XV.5. Zizhang asked what was the means of acting upon other men. The Master replied:
— A man sincere and truthful in his words, prudent and circumspect in his actions, will have influence, even among the barbarians of the south or the north. A man who is neither sincere nor truthful in his words, neither prudent nor circumspect in his actions, will he have any influence, even in a town or a village? When you are standing, see in thought these four virtues standing beside you, before your eyes. When you are in your carriage, contemplate them seated upon the yoke. By this means, you will acquire influence.
Zizhang wrote these words of the Master on his sash.
子曰：“直哉史鱼。邦有道如矢，邦无道如矢。君子哉遽伯玉。邦有道则仕，邦无道则可卷而怀之。”
XV.6. The Master said:
— How admirable is the uprightness of the historiographer Yu! Whether the government be well or ill ordered, he always follows the straight path, like an arrow. How wise is Ju Boyu! When the government is well ordered, he holds office. When the government is ill ordered, he knows how to withdraw and keep his virtue hidden.
Notes: The historiographer was an official annalist. Yu was daifu in the principality of Wei; his name was Qiu. After his death, having become a corpse, he still gave counsel to his prince. Ill and about to die, he said to his son: « At the prince's court, I was unable to obtain that offices be entrusted to wise men and refused to vicious men. After my death, the funeral ceremonies must not be performed. It will suffice to lay my body in the hall that is to the north. » The prince, having gone to make the customary lamentations, asked the reason for this singularity. The son of the deceased replied with an accent of deep grief: « My father so ordered it. » « I am at fault », said the prince. At once he ordered the body of the deceased to be clothed in the place where this honour was rendered to his guests. Then he gave office to Ju Boyu and removed Mi Zixia (his unworthy minister).
子曰：“可与言而不与之言，失人；不可与言而与之言，失言。知者不失人，亦不失言。”
XV.7. The Master said:
— If you refuse to instruct a man who has the requisite dispositions, you lose a man, that is to say, you leave in ignorance a man whom you could render virtuous and wise. If you teach a man who has not the necessary dispositions, you waste your instructions. A prudent man loses neither men nor his teachings.
子曰：“志士仁人，无求生以害仁，有杀身以成仁。”
XV.8. The Master said:
— A man who is perfect or resolved to become so never seeks to save his life at the expense of his virtue. There are circumstances in which he sacrifices his life, and thus sets the crown upon his virtue.
子贡问为仁。子曰：“工欲善其事，必先利其器。居是邦也，事其大夫之贤者，友其士之仁者。”
XV.9. Zigong asked what one must do to become perfect. The Master replied:
— The workman who wishes to do his work well must begin by sharpening his tools. In the region where he dwells, let him put himself in the service of the best daifu; let him contract friendship with the most perfect men.
颜渊问为邦。子曰：“行夏之时，乘殷之辂，服周之冕，乐则韶舞。放郑声，远佞人。郑声淫，佞人殆。”
XV.10. Yan Yuan asked Confucius what one must do to govern a State well.
The Master replied:
— The emperor must follow the calendar of the Xia. He must adopt the carriage of the Yin and wear in the ceremonies the cap of the Zhou. He must have the songs of Shao performed. He must banish the songs of the principality of Zheng and keep away smooth talkers. The songs of Zheng are obscene; smooth talkers are dangerous.
子曰：“人无远虑，必有近忧。”
XV.11. The Master said:
— He whose foresight does not extend far will soon be in difficulty.
子曰：“已矣乎！吾未见好德如好色者也。”
XV.12. The Master said:
— Must one then despair? I have not yet seen a man who loved virtue as much as one loves a beautiful appearance.
子曰：“臧文仲，其窃位者与？知柳下惠之贤，而不与立也。”
XV.13. The Master said:
— Did not Zang Wenzhong use his dignity like a thief? He knew the wisdom of Hui of Liuxia and did not request him as a colleague at the prince's court.
Notes: Hui of Liuxia was Chen Huan, named Qin, a great prefect of Lu. He drew his emoluments from the town of Liuxia. He received the posthumous name of Hui, which means Beneficent.
子曰：“躬自厚而薄责于人，则远怨矣。”
XV.14. The Master said:
— He who reproaches himself severely for his own faults and rebukes others with indulgence avoids resentments.
子曰：“不曰如之何如之何者，吾末如之何也已矣。”
XV.15. The Master said:
— There is nothing I can do for the man who does not ask: How shall I do this? how shall I do that?
子曰：“群居终日，言不及义，好行小慧，难矣哉！”
XV.16. Confucius said:
— Those who gather in a troop and remain together all day long, who say nothing good and wish to follow the deceptive lights of their own prudence, what difficulty will they not have!
Notes: They cannot enter the way of virtue; they will have sorrows and pains.
子曰：“君子义以为质，礼以行之，孙以出之，信以成之。君子哉！”
XV.17. The Master said:
— The sage takes justice as his foundation; he practises it according to the rules established by the ancients; he displays it modestly; he keeps it always sincerely. Such a man deserves the name of sage.
子曰：“君子病无能焉，不病人之不己知也。”
XV.18. The Master said:
— The sage grieves at being unable to practise virtue perfectly; he does not grieve at not being known by men.
子曰：“君子疾没世而名不称焉。”
XV.19. The Master said:
— The sage does not wish to die before he has made himself worthy of praise.
子曰：“君子求诸己，小人求诸人。”
XV.20. The Master said:
— The sage expects everything from his own efforts; the vulgar man expects everything from the favour of others.
子曰：“君子矜而不争，群而不党。”
XV.21. The Master said:
— The sage is master of himself and has no dispute with anyone; he is sociable, but is not a man of party.
子曰：“君子不以言举人，不以人废言。”
XV.22. The Master said:
— The sage does not raise a man to office merely because he has heard him speak well; and he does not reject a good word because it was spoken by a wicked man.
子贡问曰：“有一言而可以终身行之者乎？”子曰：“其恕乎！己所不欲，勿施于人。”
XV.23. Zigong asked whether there existed a precept which contained all the others, and which one ought to observe all one's life. The Master replied:
— Is it not the precept to love all men as oneself? Do not do to others what you do not wish to be done to yourself.
子曰：“吾之于人也，谁毁谁誉。如有所誉者，其有所试矣。斯民也，三代之所以直道而行也。”
XV.24. The Master said:
— Whom have I blamed or praised to excess? If I praise someone too much, it is because I have recognized that he will make himself worthy of the praise I give him. Our people is still the one whom the emperors of the three dynasties treated with the greatest justice.
子曰：“吾犹及史之阙文也，有马者，借人乘之，今亡矣夫！”
XV.25. The Master said:
— In my childhood, I could still see a historiographer who wrote nothing of which he was not certain, a rich man who lent his horses to others. Now one sees them no more.
子曰：“巧言乱德，小不忍则乱大谋。”
XV.26. The Master said:
— Fine speeches make vice be taken for virtue. A slight impatience ruins a great undertaking.
子曰：“众恶之，必察焉；众好之，必察焉。”
XV.27. The Master said:
— When the hatred or the favour of the multitude attaches itself to a man, one must examine his conduct before judging whether he is worthy of affection or of hatred.
子曰：“人能弘道，非道弘人。”
XV.28. The Master said:
— Man can develop and perfect his natural virtues; the natural virtues do not make man perfect.
Notes: The virtues that nature gives to each man (together with existence) are perfect in themselves. The difference between the good and the wicked is due to the difference of the elements of which their bodies are composed, and of the habits they have contracted. When a sage keeps a school, all men can, under his direction, recover the primitive perfection of their natural virtues, and deserve to be no longer ranked in the class of the wicked.
子曰：“过而不改，是谓过矣。”
XV.29. The Master said:
— Not to correct oneself after an involuntary fault is to commit a real fault.
子曰：“吾尝终日不食，终夜不寝，以思，无益，不如学也。”
XV.30. The Master said:
— Formerly I spent whole days without eating and whole nights without sleeping, in order to give myself to meditation. I drew little fruit from it. It is better to study in the school of others.
子曰：“君子谋道不谋食。耕者，馁在其中矣；学也，禄在其中矣。君子忧道不忧贫。”
XV.31. The Master said:
— The disciple of wisdom turns all his thoughts toward virtue, and not toward food. The labourer tills the soil to draw his food from it; but when the harvest fails in his work, he meets with dearth and hunger. On the contrary, the disciple of wisdom, working only to acquire virtue, draws upon himself honours and riches. He gives all his care to virtue and has no concern about poverty.
子曰：“知及之，仁不能守之，虽得之，必失之。知及之，仁能守之，不庄以莅之，则民不敬。知及之，仁能守之，庄以莅之，动之不以礼，未善也。”
XV.32. The Master said:
— If someone knew the doctrine of the sages and had not enough virtue to put it into practice, his knowledge would be of no use to him. If someone knew the doctrine of the sages and could put it into practice, but lacked gravity in public, the people would not respect him. If someone knew the doctrine of the sages, was able to put it into practice, appeared in public with gravity, but did not direct the people according to the established rules, that would not yet be perfection.
子曰：“君子不可小知，而可大受也。小人不可大受，而可小知也。”
XV.33. The Master said:
— One cannot appreciate the sage in a small matter, but one can entrust great matters to him. One cannot entrust great matters to the vulgar man; but one can appreciate him in small ones.
子曰：“民之于仁也，甚于水火。水火，吾见蹈而死者矣，未见蹈仁而死者也。”
XV.34. The Master said:
— Virtue is more necessary to the people than water and fire. I have seen men perish walking in water or in fire; I have never seen anyone perish walking in the way of virtue.
子曰：“当仁不让于师。”
XV.35. The Master said:
— He who applies himself chiefly to practising virtue can rival a master, that is to say, direct himself and others.
子曰：“君子贞而不谅。”
XV.36. The Master said:
— The sage attaches himself firmly to truth and duty; he does not attach himself obstinately to his own ideas.
子曰：“事君，敬其事而后其食。”
XV.37. The Master said:
— He who is in the service of his prince must fulfil his office with great care, and think of his salary only last.
子曰：“道不同，不相为谋。”
XV.38. The Master said:
— The sage admits to his school all men, without distinction.
子曰：“辞，达而已矣。”
XV.39. The Master said:
— Language must clearly express the thought, that is enough.
师冕见，及阶，子曰：“阶也。”及席，子曰：“席也。”皆坐，子告之曰：“某在斯，某在斯。”师冕出，子张问曰：“与师言之，道与？”子曰：“然。固相师之道也。”
XV.41. Mian, the prefect of music, having gone to visit Confucius, when he had reached the steps of the hall, the Master said to him:
— Here are the steps.
When he had reached the mat, the philosopher said to him:
— Here is the mat.
When everyone was seated, the Master said to the prefect of music:
— So-and-so is here; so-and-so is there.
When the prefect Mian had withdrawn, Zizhang asked whether it was a duty to inform the prefect of music thus.
— Certainly, replied the Master, it is a duty to assist the directors of music in this way.
