Learning

Analects 9.23

Original Text:

子曰后生可畏焉知来者之不如今也四十五十而无闻焉斯亦不足畏也已

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “We should look upon the younger generation with awe because how are we to know that those who come after us will not prove our equals? Once, however, a man reaches the age of forty or fifty without having learned anything, we can conclude from this fact alone that he is not worthy of being held in awe.”

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

The Master said, Respect those younger than yourself. How do you know that the coming generation may not prove as good as our present one? But if a person lives to forty or fifty and hasn’t been heard of, then he’s no longer worthy of respect.

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

Analects 9.11

Original Text:

颜渊喟然叹曰仰之弥高钻之弥坚瞻之在前忽焉在后夫子循循然善诱人博我以文约我以礼欲罢不能既竭吾才如有所立卓尔虽欲从之末由也已

Translation:

Other Translations:

With a great sigh Yan Hui lamented, “The more I look up at it the higher it seems; the more I delve into it, the harder it becomes. Catching a glimpse of it before me, I then find it suddenly at my back.

“The Master is skilled at gradually leading me on, step by step. He broadens me with culture and restrains me with the rites, so that even if I wanted to give up I could not. Having exhausted all of my strength, it seems as if there is still something left, looming up ahead of me. Though I desire to follow it, there seems to be no way through.”

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

Yan Yuan, sighing, exclaimed, Look up and it’s higher than ever, bore into it and it’s harder still. I see it in front of me, then suddenly it’s behind. Our Master—step by step, how skillfully he leads others along! He broadens me with culture, reins me in with ritual. I want to give up but cannot. Already he has exhausted my ability, yet I see him standing tall before me. But although I want to follow him, I’ve no way to do so.

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

Analects 8.17

Original Text:

子曰学如不及犹恐失之

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “Learn as if you will never catch up, and as if you feared losing what you have already attained.”

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

The Master said, Study as though you could never catch up, [and if you did,] you would still be fearful of losing it.

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

Analects 8.13

Original Text:

子曰笃信好学守死善道危邦不入乱邦不居天下有道则见无道则隐邦有道贫且贱焉耻也邦无道富且贵焉耻也

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “Be sincerely trustworthy and love learning, and hold fast to the good Way until death. Do not enter a state that is endangered, and do not reside in a state that is disordered. If the Way is being realized in the world then show yourself; if it is not, then go into reclusion. In a state that has the Way, to be poor and of low status is a cause for shame; in a state that is without the Way, to be wealthy and honored is equally a cause for shame.”

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

The Master said, Entirely trustworthy, a lover of learning, faithful until death, exemplar of the Way, he never enters a state where there is peril, never remains in a state where there is disorder. When the Way prevails in the world, he appears; when the Way is lacking, he retires. When the state follows the Way, being poor and lowly is a cause for shame. When the state is without the Way, being rich and eminent is a cause for shame.

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

Analects 8.12

Original Text:

子曰三年学不至于谷不易得也

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “It is not easy to find someone who is able to learn for even the space of three years without a thought given to official salary.”

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

The Master said, Someone who can study for three years without thinking about an official salary—not easy to find!

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

Analects 7.17

Original Text:

子曰加我数年五十以学易可以无大过矣

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “If I were granted many more years, and could devote fifty of them to learning, surely I would be able to be free of major faults.”

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

The Master said, Give me a few more years—if I have fifty years to study, then perhaps I, too, can avoid any great errors.

[Or, according to the more widely accepted Ku text:] if I have fifty years to study the Book of Changes, then perhaps I, too, can avoid any great errors.

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

Analects 7.8

Original Text:

子曰不愤不启不悱不发举一隅不以三隅反则不复也

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “I will not open the door for a mind that is not already striving to understand, nor will I provide words to a tongue that is not already struggling to speak. If I hold up one corner of a problem, and the student cannot come back to me with the other three, I will not attempt to instruct him again.”

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

The Master said, If they’re not eager to learn, I don’t enlighten them; if they’re not struggling to put it into words, I don’t assist them. I hold up one corner to show them, and if they can’t come back with the other three, then I don’t go on.

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

Analects 7.3

Original Text:

子曰德之不修学之不讲闻义不能徙不善不能改是吾忧也

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “That I fail to cultivate Virtue, that I fail to inquire more deeply into that which I have learned, that upon hearing what is right I remain unable to move myself to do it, and that I prove unable to reform when I have done something wrong—such potential failings are a source of constant worry to me.”

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

The Master said, Virtue not sufficiently practiced, learning not sufficiently digested, to hear what is right and not be able to do it, to have shortcomings and not be able to remedy them—these are the things that I worry about.

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

Analects 7.2

Original Text:

子曰默而识之学而不厌诲人不倦何有于我哉

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “Remaining silent and yet comprehending, learning and yet never becoming tired, encouraging others and never growing weary—these are tasks that present me with no difficulty.”

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

The Master said, To be silent and understand, to learn without tiring, never to weary of teaching others—this much I can do.

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

Analects 6.27

Original Text:

子曰君子博学于文约之以礼亦可以弗畔矣夫

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “Someone who is broadly learned with regard to culture, and whose conduct is restrained by the rites, can be counted upon to not go astray.”

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

The Master said, If the gentleman acquires broad learning in cultural matters and focuses it through ritual, he is hardly likely to go far astray, is he?

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