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Analects 2.10 The Master said, “Look closely into his aims, observe the means by which he pursues them, discover what brings him content – and can the man’s real worth remain hidden from you, can it remain hidden from you?”
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The Master said,” I can talk to Yan Hui a whole day without his ever differing from me. One would think he was stupid. But if I enquire into his private conduct when he is not with me I find that it fully demonstrates what I have taught him. No, Hui is by no…
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Zixia asked about the treatment of parents. The Master said, “It is the demeanour that is difficult. Filial piety does not consist merely in young people undertaking the hard work, when anything has to be done, or serving their elders first with wine and food. It is something much more than that.”
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Ziyou asked about the treatment of parents. The Master said, ” ‘Filial sons’ nowadays are people who see to it that their parents get enough to eat. But even dogs and horses are cared for to that extent. If there is no feeling of respect, wherein lies the difference?”
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Meng Wu asked about the treatment of parents. The Master said, “Behave in such a way that your father and mother have no anxiety about you, except concerning your health.”
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The Master said, “At fifteen I set my heart upon learning. At thirty, l had planted my feet firm upon the ground. At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities. At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven. At sixty, I heard them with docile ear. At seventy, I could follow the…