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The Master said, “The noble person seeks from himself; the petty person seeks from others.”
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The Master said, “The noble person worries that after his death, his name will not be commensurate with his virtue – that he will not be remembered worthily.”
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The Master said, “The noble person worries about his own lack of ability, not about others’ failure to recognize him.”
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The Master said, “The noble person takes righteousness as his substance, practices it through ritual propriety, expresses it with humility, and completes it through trustworthiness. Truly a noble person!”
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The Master said, “How upright was Shi Yu! When the state was well governed, he was as straight as an arrow; when the state was poorly governed, he was still as straight as an arrow.What a noble person was Qu Boyu! When the state was well governed, he served in office; when the state…
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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…
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The Master said, “The most virtuous withdraw from the world entirely; the next withdraw from a particular state; the next avoid disrespectful looks; and the next avoid offensive words.”The Master added, “There have already been seven such people.”