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Analects 7.26

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Original Text:

子曰圣人吾不得而见之矣得见君子者斯可矣子曰善人吾不得而见之矣得见有恒者斯可矣亡而为有虚而为盈约而为泰难乎有恒乎

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “A sage I will never get to meet; if I manage to meet a gentleman, I suppose I would be content. An excellent person I will never get to meet; if I manage to meet someone with constancy, I suppose I would be content. [Yet all I see around me is] nothing masquerading as something, emptiness masquerading as substance, limitation masquerading as grandness. I think even constancy will be hard to find.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The Master said, A sage I have never managed to see. If I could see a true gentleman, that would be enough.
The Master said, A truly good person I have never managed to see. If I could see a person of constancy, that would be enough. With nothingness pretending to possession, emptiness pretending to fullness, want pretending to affluence, true constancy is hard to find.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Other Translations:

The Master said, “The gentleman is not motivated by the desire for a full belly or a comfortable abode. He is simply scrupulous in behavior and careful in speech, drawing near to those who possess the Way in order to be set straight by them. Surely this and nothing else is what it means to love learning.

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

The Master said, A gentleman when he eats doesn’t try to stuff himself, when he chooses a dwelling is not overly concerned about comfort. He is attentive to affairs, careful of his words, and looks to those who have the Way to correct himself. He’s the kind who can be called a lover of learning.

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