6.15
The Master said, “Meng Zhifan is no boaster. When his people were routed he was the last to flee; but when they neared the city-gate, he whipped up his horses, saying, ‘It was not courage that kept me behind. My horses were slow.’”
子曰：“孟之反不伐，奔而殿，将入门，策其马曰：‘非敢后也，马不进也。’”
Notes
This passage from the Analects captures Meng’s humility during a military defeat — refusing to claim credit while risking his life as rearguard. It embodies the Confucian virtue of “not boasting of one’s merits”, epitomizing the noble conduct of achieving much yet claiming little.
As Laozi declares in the Tao Te Ching:
Give life without possessing,
Act without claiming merit,
Accomplish without dwelling on achievements.
In these lines, Laozi dismantles the human obsession with control, credit, and legacy — offering instead the freedom of boundless belonging.
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