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Confucius said, “When seeing goodness, one should feel as if unable to catch up with it; when seeing what is not good, one should recoil as if touching boiling water. I have seen such people and heard their words. As for those who retreat into seclusion to preserve their aspirations and act righteously to…
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The Master said, “When paths differ, one does not conspire together.”
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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.”
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The Master said, “It is humanity that enlarges the Way, not the Way that enlarges humanity.”
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The Master said, “The determined scholar and the humane person will never seek to preserve their life at the expense of benevolence (humaneness); they would rather sacrifice their life to fulfill humaneness.”
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The Master said with a sigh, “You, Zhong You! Truly, those who understand virtue are few indeed!”
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The Master asked Zigong, “Ci, do you think I am someone who has acquired much knowledge and simply remembered it all?”Zigong replied, “Yes – aren’t you?”The Master said, “No. I hold to one principle that unifies everything.”
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While in Chen, Confucius and his followers ran out of food. His disciples fell ill from hunger and could not get up. Zilu, visibly angry, came to see him and asked, “Can even a noble person (junzi) fall into such desperate straits?”The Master replied, “The noble person steadfastly endures poverty; when the petty person…