The Master said, “If you really care for them, can you then fail to put them to work? If you are really dutiful to him, can you then fail to instruct him?
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
The Master said, If you love people, can you fail to reward them? If you are loyal to them, can you fail to admonish them?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
The Master replied, “When occupying your place, remain reverent; when performing public duties, be respectful; and when dealing with others, be dutiful. These are virtues that cannot be abandoned, even if you go to dwell among the Yi or Di barbarians.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said, In private life, be courteous; in handling affairs, respectful; in dealings with others, loyal. Even if you go among the Yi or Di tribes,7 these rules can never be put aside.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
Zizhang asked about accumulating Virtue and resolving confusion.
The Master said, “Make it your guiding principle to be dutiful and trustworthy, and always move in the direction of what is right. This is what it means to accumulate Virtue. If you love someone, you desire that they live; if you hate them, you desire that they perish. Now, having already desired that someone live, and then to desire that they perish—this is confusion.
‘Not for the sake of wealth,
But simply for the sake of variety.’ ”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
Zizhang asked how to uphold virtue and detect faulty thinking.
The Master said, Concentrate on loyalty and trustworthiness and follow what is right—that’s the way to uphold virtue. When you love someone, you hope that the person will live, but if you hate him, you wish that he were dead. Having wished for life, you turn around and wish for death—this is faulty thinking.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
