.

Tze-lu, on being asked about Confucius, gave no answer. The master asked
about being present, said, "Why didst thou not say to him, 'Confucius is
a man so eager in the pursuit of knowledge that he forgets his food, so
jubilant in its attainment that he forgets his grief and grows old
without knowing it'?"

I was not born in the possession of knowledge, but I am fond of the past
and study it closely, and hence knowledge is coming to me.

My pupils, do not think that I hide anything from you. Whatever I think
and do I tell you frankly and truly. I keep no secrets from my
disciples.

The master used to teach four things: culture, morals, and manners,
piety, and faithfulness.

In knowledge and in culture I am perhaps the equal of other men. I have
not yet attained to perfection, nor are my knowledge and living
consistent.

The master once being very ill, Tze-lu asked permission to pray for him.
The master asked, "Is that customary?" "It is," replied the disciple,
"for the memorials have it, 'Pray to the spirits in heaven above and on
earth below.'" The master replied, "I have for long prayed for myself,
and that is best."

The master was dignified, yet gentle. He was majestic, but inspired no
fear. He was gentlemanly, but always at ease.

Poetry rouses the mind, the rules of propriety establish the character,
music crowns a man's education.

It would be hard to meet a man who has studied for three years without
learning something good.

Learn as though you felt you could never learn enough, and as though you
feared you could not learn in your short life what is needful for
conduct.

A man from a certain village once said, "Confucius is, no doubt, a very
learned man, but he has not made himself a name in any special thing."
When the master heard this, he said to his disciples, "What shall I
undertake: charioteering, archery, or what? I think I shall become a
charioteer, and thus get me a name."

A high officer asked Tze-kung, "May we not say that the master is a sage
because he can do so many things?" To which Tze-kung replied, "Heaven
has indeed highly endowed him, and he is almost a sage; and he is very
many-sided."

On hearing this the master said, "Does the officer know me? Being of
lowly birth when I was young, I learnt many a trade, but there was
nothing great in that. The superior man may excel in one thing only, and
not in many things."

Wishing to go and live among the nine wild tribes of the