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The Analects – Chapter 79 (4.14). Inner cultivation over external validation
4.14 The Master said, “He does not mind not being in office; all he minds about is whether he has qualities that entitle him to office. He does not mind failing to get recognition; he is too busy doing the things that entitle him to recognition.”
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The Analects – Chapter 78 (4.13). The politics of yielding
4.13 The Master said, “If it is really possible to govern countries by ritual and yielding, there is no more to be said. But if it is not really possible, of what use is ritual?”
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The Analects – Chapter 76 (4.11). Noble person vs. Petty person
4.11 The Master (Confucius) said, “Where gentlemen set their hearts upon virtue, the commoners set theirs upon the soil. Where gentlemen think only of punishments, the commoners think only of exemptions.”
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The Analects – Chapter 75 (4.10). Beyond rigidity
4.10 The Master said, “A gentleman in his dealings with the world has neither enmities nor affections; but wherever he sees righteousness he ranges himself beside it.”
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The Analects – Chapter 74 (4.9). Beyond material pursuits
4.9 The Master said, “A scholar whose heart is set upon Dao, but who is ashamed of wearing shabby clothes and eating coarse food, is not worth calling into counsel.”