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.
If Heaven has not granted me enough happiness I keep increasing my store of virtue to supplement this small portion.
Those who preserve their moral integrity suffer only fleeting loneliness. But eternal wretchedness awaits those who toady to the powerful.
There was a rich household on the western outskirts of Yidu. Shandong Province. The master had recently acquired a concubine, who was very pretty. The master’s wife treated the concubine badly, often flogging her for no reason at all.