子游曰吾友张也为难能也然而未仁
Ziyou said, “It is difficult to measure up to my friend Zizhang, but even so he is still not Good.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
Ziyou said, My friend Zizhang can do difficult things, but he has not yet mastered humaneness.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
原壤夷俟子曰幼而不孙弟长而无述焉老而不死是为贼以杖叩其胫
Yuan Rang sat casually, with his legs sprawled out, waiting for Confucius.
On seeing him, the Master remarked, “A young man devoid of humility and respect for his elders will grow into an adult who contributes nothing to his community. Growing older and older without the dignity to pass away, he becomes a burden on society.” He then rapped him on the shin with his staff.
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
Yuan Rang sat waiting for Confucius in a slovenly posture. The Master said, Young but not properly submissive, grown and no one speaks well of you, old and you still don’t die—a real pest!
He rapped on Yuan’s shins with his cane.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
子曰不得中行而与之必也狂狷乎狂者进取狷者有所不为也
The Master said, “If you cannot manage to find a person of perfectly balanced conduct to associate with, I suppose you must settle for the wild or the fastidious. In their pursuit of the Way, the wild plunge right in, while the fastidious are always careful not to get their hands dirty.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
The Master said, If you can’t get someone to work with whose actions follow the mean, then you must choose between the assertive and the cautious. The assertive will forge ahead decisively. The cautious can be trusted to have things that they will not do.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
朋友之馈虽车马非祭肉不拜
When receiving a gift from a friend—even something as valuable as a cart or a horse—he did not bow unless it was a gift of sacrificial meat.
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
If a friend presented him with a gift, even though it might be a horse or carriage, he did not bow to the ground to receive it. Only in the case of sacrificial meat did he do so.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
朋友死无所归曰于我殡
When a friend died without relatives able to take care of the funeral arrangements, he would say, “I will see to burying him properly.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
If a friend died and there was no one to receive the body, the Master would say, Let me handle the funeral proceedings.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
子曰主忠信毋友不如己者过则勿惮改
The Master said, “Let your actions be governed by dutifulness and trustworthiness, and do not accept as a friend one who is not your equal. If you have committed a transgression, do not be afraid to change your ways.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
The Master said, Put prime value on loyalty and trustworthiness, have no friends who are not your equal, and, if you make mistakes, don’t be afraid to correct them.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
曾子曰以能问于不能以多问于寡有若无实若虚犯而不校昔者吾友尝从事于斯矣
Master Zeng said, “Able, and yet asking questions about abilities that one does not possess; using what one has much of in order to ask about what one lacks; having, yet seeming to lack; full, yet seeming empty; offended against, and yet feeling no need to retaliate. I once had a friend who was like this.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.
Master Zeng said, Able but consulting those who lack ability, of many talents but consulting those with few, possessing but seeming to be without, full yet seeming to be empty, offended against but never retaliating—in the past I had a friend who always tried to be like that.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.
