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3.17 Zigong wanted to do away with the presentation of a sacrificial sheep at the announcement of each new moon. The Master said, “Ci! You grudge sheep, but I grudge ritual.”
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3.16 The Master said, “The saying In archery it is not the hide that counts,For some men have more strength than others, is the way of the Ancients.”
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3.14 The Master said, “Zhou could survey the two preceding dynasties. How great a wealth of culture! And we follow upon Zhou.”
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3.13 Wangsun Jia asked about the meaning of the saying, Better pay court to the stove.Than pay court to the Shrine. The Master said, “It is not true. He who has put himself in the wrong with Heaven has no means of expiation left.”
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3.12 Of the saying, “The word ‘sacrifice’ is like the word ‘present’; one should sacrifice to a spirit as though that spirit was present.”
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3.11 Someone asked for an explanation of the Ancestral Sacrifice. Confucius said, “I do not know. Anyone who knew the explanation could deal with all things under Heaven as easily as I lay this here”; and he laid his finger upon the palm of his hand.
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3.10 The Master said, “At the Ancestral Sacrifice, as for all that comes after the libation, I had far rather not witness it!”