The Master said, “In serving a ruler, attend to your duties with reverence first, and place your salary second.”
The Master said, “The noble person is steadfast in principle but not rigidly bound by petty fidelity.”
The Master said, “The noble person cannot be fully known through small matters, yet can be entrusted with great responsibilities; the petty person cannot be entrusted with great responsibilities, yet can be understood through small matters.”
The Master said, “The noble person seeks the Way, not sustenance. In farming, hunger may still occur; in studying, official emolument often follows. Thus, the noble person worries about the Way, not about poverty.”
The Master said, “I once spent a whole day without eating and a whole night without sleeping, devoting myself entirely to thinking – but gained nothing. It is better to study than to ponder in vain.”
The Master said, “To have faults and not correct them – that is truly a fault.”