Character, Leadership, and Practical Wisdom — The Analects

Some people never stop calculating their paycheck. Hsien asks what is shameful; Confucius answers that whether government is good or bad, to think only of salary is shameful either way. Repressing pride, boasting, resentment, and greed is hard, he adds, but not necessarily perfect virtue. A scholar who loves comfort is no scholar. In good times speech and action may both be bold; in bad times action may stay bold while words show reserve. Virtue produces good speech, but smooth talk is not virtue; principle produces courage, but boldness is not principle. Nan-kung Kwo compares dead archers with kings who plowed; Confucius calls him a superior man. There has been a superior man who was not virtuous, Confucius says, but never a mean man who was. The middle is judgment under compromise. Tsze-lu asks what makes a complete man and gets an impossible ancient list, then a simpler modern one: see gain, think righteousness; see danger, give life; keep old agreements. Kwan Chung did not die with his lord yet united the princes; without him, Confucius says, civilization itself would have unraveled. He refuses the small fidelity of common people who drown unnoticed. Kung-shu Wan speaks, laughs, and takes only when timely and right. A bad duke can keep a state if the right officers hold guests, temple, and army. Then politics turns bloody: Confucius bathes, reports a regicide to Duke Ai, is sent to the three families, and they do nothing. Serve a ruler, he tells Tsze-lu: do not deceive him, and withstand him to his face. Closing widens from office to solitude and sharp edges. Learn for yourself, not applause. Chu Po-yu's messenger says his master tries to make his faults few. Modest speech, exceeding action. Recompense injury with justice, kindness with kindness. Confucius laments that no one knows him, yet does not murmur against Heaven. Slander cannot stop what is ordered. Seven men retired for different reasons; a gatekeeper calls Confucius one who knows the times are impossible yet keeps trying. Tsze-lu learns the superior man cultivates himself, then gives rest to others, then to all people. Book XIV ends twice over: Yuan Zang lounges disrespectfully and gets struck on the shank; a village youth carrying messages acts like a man before he is one.