Analects

Chapter 2
2.1
The Master said: "Government with virtue is like the North Star, where all the stars share it."

2.2
The Master said: "There are three hundred poems in the "Poetry", which can be summed up in one sentence: 'Thinking without evil'."

2.3
The Master said: "Government is based on Dao, punishment is used in order, and the people are free from shame; morality is based on virtue, and propriety is used in order, there is shame and integrity."

2.4
The Master said: "When I am ten, I am determined to learn. At thirty, I stand upright. At forty, I am not confused. At fifty, I know the destiny. At sixty, my ears are compliant. At seventy, I follow my heart's desire and do not exceed the rules."

2.5
Meng Yizi asked about filial piety.The Master said, "No violation."

Fan Chi Yu, his son told him, "Meng Sun asked me about filial piety, and I said, 'No offense'." Fan Chi said, "What do you mean?"

The Master said, "In life, we should do things with rites; in death, we should be buried with rites and sacrifices with rites."

2.6
Uncle Meng Wu asked filial piety.

The Master said: "Parents only worry about their illness."

2.7
Ziyou asked about filial piety.

The Master said: "Today's filial piety means being able to raise them. As for dogs and horses, they can both be raised; if they are disrespectful, why is it different?"

2.8
Zixia asked about filial piety.

The Master said: "Sex is difficult. If there is something to do, the disciple will do his work; if there is wine and food, the master will eat. Did you ever think of filial piety?"

2.9
The Master said: "My words with Hui are not contrary to each other all day long, just like being foolish. It is enough to retreat and reflect on one's own selfishness. It is not foolish to return."

2.10
The Master said: "Look at its cause, observe its origin, observe its security, how can a person be thin? How can a person be thin?"

2.11
The Master said: "Reviewing the old and learning the new, you can be a teacher."

2.12
Confucius said: "A gentleman is not a weapon."

2.13
Zigong asked the gentleman.

The Master said: "Do what you say first, and then follow it."

2.14
Zi said: "A gentleman is not a week, but a villain is not a week."

2.15
Confucius said: "Learning without thinking will lead to death, and thinking without learning will lead to peril."

2.16
The Master said: "Attacking heresy is nothing but harm."

2.17
The Master said: "Yu, do you teach your daughters to know? Knowing what you know is knowing, not knowing what you don't know is knowing."

2.18
His son Zhang Xueqianlu.

The Master said: "If you hear a lot of doubts, but be careful about what you say, you will be few; if you see many things, but be careful about what you do, you will have few regrets. If you speak few words, and do few regrets, you will be rewarded."

2.19
Duke Ai asked, "What is it that the people obey?"

Confucius said to him: "If the right is wrong and the wrong is wrong, the people will obey; if the wrong is wrong and the straight is wrong, the people will not obey."

2.20
Ji Kangzi asked: "How about making the people respectful and loyal?"

The Master said: "When approaching a person, treat him with admiration, then he will be respectful; if he is filial and kind, he will be loyal; if he does good deeds but cannot teach him, then he will persuade him."

2.21
Or it is said that Confucius said: "Zi Xi is not in politics?"

The Master said: "The Book says: 'Filial piety is nothing but filial piety, friendship is with brothers, and government is given to you.' Is it also for government, how to criticize it for government?"

2.22
The Master said: "People don't have faith, and they don't know what to do. Big carts have no wheels, and small carts have no mouths. How can they do it?"

2.23
Zi Zhang asked, "Can we know the ten generations?"

The Master said: "The profit and loss of Yin due to Xia Li can be known; Zhou's profit and loss can be known because of Yin Li; and those who succeed Zhou can be known even for a hundred generations."

2.24
The Master said: "To offer sacrifices to ghosts other than their own is flattery. To see righteousness and not to act is to have no courage."

(End of this chapter)