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The Master said, “He who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”
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The Master said: “The noble person practices inclusive integrity — they embrace all with impartial care, avoiding factional alliances. The petty person forms exclusive cliques — they bond through self-interest, lacking ethical consistency.
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Zigong asked about the true gentleman. The Master said, “He does not preach what he practises till he has practised what he preaches.”
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The Master said, “A gentleman is not an implement.”
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The Master said, “He who by reanimating the Old can gain knowledge of the New is fit to be a teacher.”
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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?”