The Analects – Chapter 14 (1.14). The passion for learning

The Master said, “A gentleman who never goes on eating till he is sated, who does not demand comfort in his home, who is diligent in business and cautious in speech, who associates with those that possess the Dao and thereby corrects his own faults – such a one may indeed be said to have a taste for learning.”

子曰：「君子食無求飽，居無求安，敏於事而慎於言，就有道而正焉，可謂好學也已。」

Notes

For Confucius, the passion for learning transcends mere knowledge accumulation; it is a life attitude that rises above material desires, focusing instead on practice and self-cultivation.

It manifests concretely as:

• Not obsessing over ample food or comfortable dwellings;
• Being diligent in work and cautious in speech;
• Actively seeking guidance from the virtuous to rectify one’s errors.

“Incomparable indeed was Hui! A handful of rice to eat, a gourdful of water to drink, living in a mean street – others would have found it unendurably depressing, but to Hui’s cheerfulness it made no difference at all.” (The Analects 6.11)

One who embodies these may truly be said to love to learn.