4.18 The Master said, “In serving his father and mother a man may gently remonstrate with them. But if he sees that he has failed to change their opinion, he should resume an attitude of deference and not thwart them; may feel discouraged, but not resentful.”
3.22 The Master said, “Guan Zhong was in reality a man of very narrow capacities.”
3.19 Duke Ding asked for a precept concerning a ruler’s use of his ministers and a minister’s service to his ruler.
3.4 Lin Fang asked for some main principles in connexion with ritual. Confucius said, “A very big question. In ritual at large it is a safe rule always to be too sparing rather than too lavish; and in the particular case of mourning-rites, they should be dictated by grief rather than by ease.”
3.3 Confucius said, “A man who is not benevolent, what can he have to do with ritual? A man who is not benevolent, what can he have to do with music?
3.2 The Three Families used the Yong Song during the removal of the sacrificial vessels. Confucius said, “‘By rulers and lords attended,The Son of Heaven, mysterious….’ What possible application can such words have in the hall of the Three Families?”