Boastful - Confucian Pages

Analects 14.1

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Original Text:

宪问耻子曰邦有道谷邦无道谷耻也克伐怨欲不行焉可以为仁矣子曰可以为难矣仁则吾不知也

Translation:

Other Translations:

Yuan Si asked about shame.
The Master said, “When the state has the Way, accept a salary; when the state is without the Way, to accept a salary is shameful.”
“To refrain from competitiveness, boastfulness, envy, and greed—can this be considered Goodness?”
The Master said, “This can be considered difficult, but as for its being Good, that I do not know.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Xian (Yuan Si) asked what is shameful. The Master said, When a state follows the Way, one receives an official stipend. But when a state is without the Way, to receive an official stipend is shameful.
[Yuan Si said,] If one is free of high-handedness, bragging, enmity, and craving, can this be termed humaneness? The Master said, It may be termed difficult. But as for humaneness—I don’t know about that.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Other Translations:

The Master said, “Meng Zhifan is not given to boasting. When his forces were retreating he stayed behind to defend the rear, but as they were about to enter the city gates he spurred his horses ahead, saying, ‘It was not my courage that kept me back, but merely that my horses would not advance.’ ”

Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The Master said, Meng Zhifan never boasted. When our forces fled in defeat, he guarded the rear. But when he was about to enter the city gates, he whipped up his horses, saying, I wasn’t deliberately lagging behind—my horses wouldn’t go any faster.

Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.