Self-Cultivation - Confucian Pages

Analects 14.42

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Original Text:

子路问君子子曰修己以敬曰如斯而已乎曰修己以安人曰如斯而已乎曰修己以安百姓修己以安百姓尧舜其犹病诸

Translation:

Other Translations:

Zilu asked about the gentleman.
The Master said, “He cultivates himself in order to achieve respectfulness.”
“Is that all?”
“He cultivates himself in order to bring peace to others.”
“Is that all?”
“He cultivates himself in order to bring peace to all people. Cultivating oneself and thereby bringing peace to all people is something even a Yao or a Shun would find difficult.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Zilu asked about the gentleman. The Master said, He trains himself to be respectful.
Is that all?
The Master said, He trains himself in order to give ease to others.
Is that all?
The Master said, He trains himself in order to give ease to all men and women. But training himself in order to give ease to all men and women—even the sages Yao and Shun found that hard to do.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Other Translations:

The Master said, “[The task of self-cultivation] might be compared to the task of building up a mountain: if I stop even one basketful of earth short of completion, then I have stopped completely. It might also be compared to the task of leveling ground: even if I have only dumped a single basketful of earth, at least I am moving forward.”

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

The Master said, It’s like building a mound. If the mound needs one more basketful of dirt for completion and I stop work, then the stopping is mine. Or it’s like the case of level ground. Although it may be only one basketful of dirt, if I heap it up, then the progress is mine.

[Or, according to an older interpretation:]

The Master said, It’s like someone building a mound. If the mound needs one more basketful of dirt for completion but the person stops work, then I stop [helping him]. Or it’s like the case of level ground. Although the person may have heaped up only one basketful of dirt, if he keeps working, then I follow along.

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