The Good Book (25 page)

14. I commune thus with myself: ‘The showing which we have made up to the present time, in word or deed, counts for nothing.  

15. ‘All this is but a trifling consideration, and is wrapped in much charlatanism. I shall leave it to others to determine what progress I have made.  

16. ‘Therefore with no faint heart I am making ready for the day when, putting aside all stage artifice and actor’s rouge, I am to pass judgement upon myself,

17. ‘Whether I am merely declaiming brave sentiments, or whether I really feel them.

18. ‘Put aside the opinion of the world; it is always wavering and always takes both sides.  

19. ‘Put aside the studies which you have pursued throughout your life; death will deliver the final judgement in your case.  

20. ‘This is what I mean: your debates and learned talks, your maxims gathered from the teachings of the wise, your cultured conversation,  

21. ‘All these afford no proof of the real strength of your mind. Even the most timid man can deliver a bold speech.  

22. ‘What you have done in the past will be manifest only at the time when you draw your last breath.  

23. ‘I accept the terms; I do not shrink from the decision.’ This is what I say to myself, but I would have you think that I have said it to you also.  

24. You are younger; but what does that matter? There is no fixed count of our years. You do not know where the end awaits; be ready for it everywhere.        

25. It is a wonderful thing to learn thoroughly how to die. You may deem it superfluous to learn a text that can be used only once;

26. But that is just the reason why we ought to think on a thing.  

27. When we can never prove whether we really know a thing, we must always be learning it.

28. ‘Think on death.’ In saying this, we are bidding ourselves to think on freedom.  

29. He who has learned to die has unlearned slavery;

30. He is beyond any external power, or, at any rate, he is it. What terrors has any experience of life for him?

31. This is the final consolation: that we will sleep at evening, and be free for ever.

Sages

Chapter 1

  1. The master said: to learn and to practise what is learned time and again is a great pleasure, is it not?

  2. To have friends come from afar is happiness, is it not?

  3. To be unperturbed when not appreciated by others is noble, is it not?

  4. Each day I examine myself on three counts:

  5. Whether I am loyal to those on whose behalf I act;

  6. Whether I am trustworthy towards my friends;

  7. Whether I practise what I teach.

  8. In leading a state of a thousand chariots, respect the office and be worthy of trust.

  9. Use resources wisely, love the people, do what is timely.

10. At home let the young behave with courtesy; in the world let them behave with brotherly love.

11. Let the young be prudent and trustworthy, loving the people and drawing close to those who are benevolent.

12. Without steadfastness, one cannot command respect, and one’s learning will not be sound.

13. If a person advocates loyalty and trustworthiness, he will always have friends who are his equal.

14. How does the master learn? By being gentle, kind, courteous, modest and patient. Such enquiry is different from all others.

15. What is a good person? One who does not seek to be satiated in eating, one who is quick in dealings, prudent in speech, correct in action.

16. The master said: ‘Like bone cut, like horn polished, like jade carved, like stone ground.’

17. Does this not tell us that ‘poor but happy’ is better than ‘poor but not servile’,

18. And ‘rich but benevolent’ is better than ‘rich but humble’?

19. Do not be concerned about others not appreciating you. Be concerned about not appreciating others.

20. At fifteen, I aspired to learning.

21. At thirty, I established my stand.

22. At forty, I had no illusions.

23. At fifty, I knew my destiny.

24. At sixty, I recognised truth when it came.

25. At seventy, I could follow my heart’s wishes without wrongdoing.

Chapter 2

  1. Will you know a man? Examine his motives, note his course, take heed whether he is at ease. How can a man hide?

  2. Exploring the old and deducing the new makes a teacher.

  3. The nobler mind encompasses all and is not partial. The lesser mind is partial and does not encompass all.

  4. To learn without thinking is to labour in vain.

  5. To think without learning is desolation.

  6. When you have erred, be not afraid to correct yourself. Have no associates in study who are not as advanced as yourself.

  7. What is knowledge? It is to acknowledge that what is known is known, and that what is not known is not known.

  8. What is wealth? Listen carefully and weigh: for the rest, speak prudently.

  9. Observe carefully and weigh: for the rest, act prudently.

10. Thus there can be neither accusation nor remorse: that is wealth.

11. Preside with dignity and there is respect, preside with compassion and there is loyalty.

12. Elevate the good and teach the incapable, and there is encouragement.

13. To know what is right and not to do it is to be without courage.

Chapter 3

  1. The master said, ‘If a person is without benevolence, what use is any outward show to hide the fact?

  2. ‘In archery, to pierce the target is not the measure, but rather to hit the centre. This has always been the way.

  3. ‘Those not benevolent cannot long endure adversity. The benevolent are at ease with benevolence. The wise profit from benevolence.

  4. ‘To hear in the morning that benevolence prevails is to be able to die without regret at night.

  5. ‘The good set their hearts on benevolence, others set their hearts on possessions.

  6. ‘The good set their hearts on law, the others set their hearts on privilege.

  7. ‘The good act before speaking, and afterwards speak according to their actions.

  8. ‘When we see a man of worth, we should think of equalling him.

  9. ‘When we see a man of no worth, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.

10. ‘In regard to the aged, give them rest; in regard to friends, give them sincerity; in regard to the young, treat them tenderly.’

11. The master said, ‘Admirable indeed is the virtue of a man who has a single bowl of rice, a single gourd of drink, and lives in a mean narrow street, but does not allow his joy to be affected.’

12. The master said, ‘With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow, I still have joy in the midst of these things.

13. ‘Riches and honours acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.

14. ‘Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it,

15. ‘And those who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.

16. ‘The man of virtue makes it his first business to overcome difficulty, and makes success a secondary consideration only.

17. ‘The wise find pleasure in water, the virtuous find pleasure in hills.

18. ‘The wise are active, the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful, the virtuous are long-lived.

19. ‘The man of virtue, seeking to be established, seeks to establish others;

20. ‘Wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks to enlarge others.’

21. The master said, ‘When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers.

22. ‘I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them.

23. ‘Having not and yet affecting to have, empty and yet affecting to be full, straitened and yet affecting to be at ease: it is difficult with such characteristics to have constancy.

24. ‘Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! virtue is at hand.’

25. The master said, ‘In letters I am perhaps equal to other men, but the character of the superior man, carrying out in his conduct what he professes, is what I have not yet attained to.’

26.   The master said, ‘The sage and the man of perfect virtue; how dare I rank myself with them?

27. ‘It may simply be said of me, that I strive to become such without satiety, and teach others without weariness.’

28. When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of.

29. When a country is ill governed, riches and honour are things to be ashamed of.

30. The commander of the forces of a large state may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him, if he refuses to let it go.

31. The wise are free from perplexities, the virtuous from anxiety, and the bold from fear.

32. One asked the master about death. The master said, ‘While you do not know about life, how can you know about death?’

Chapter 4

  1. The master said, ‘To govern oneself is the way to the good. Is therefore the way to the good found by a man himself or found by others for him?

  2. ‘To perfect one’s positive qualities without weariness, and to overcome bad qualities, is the way to the good.’

  3. Asked about the relationship between good and bad qualities, the master said, ‘It is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.’

  4. The master said, ‘They think that distinction consists in being heard throughout the land. But this is not distinction, it is notoriety.

  5. ‘The person of distinction is solid and straightforward, and loves what is right.

  6. ‘He examines people’s words, and looks at their countenances.’

  7. Asked how to exalt virtue, correct evil and do away with delusions, the master said, ‘By making your first business to do what is to be done, and treating success as a secondary consideration, that is how to exalt virtue.

  8. ‘By assailing your own bad qualities and not delaying to do so while you assail the bad qualities of others, that is how to correct evil.’

  9. Asked about benevolence, the master said, ‘It is to love all humankind.’

10. Asked about knowledge, he said, ‘It is to know humankind.’

11. Asked about friendship, he said, ‘Faithfully admonish your friend, and skilfully lead him forward.’

12. Asked what his first step would be on taking office, the master said, ‘To rectify names.

13. ‘If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things, and nothing can be done with success.’

14. The master said, ‘Do not desire to have things done quickly; do not look at small advantages.

15. ‘Seeking to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly.

16. ‘Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.’

Chapter 5

  1. The master said, ‘The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please.

  2. ‘If you try to please him in ways not accordant with right, he will not be pleased.

  3. ‘In his employment of men he uses them according to their capacity.’

  4. The master said, ‘The inferior man is difficult to serve, and easy to please.

  5. ‘If you try to please him in ways not accordant with right, he may be pleased.

  6. ‘But in his employment of men he wishes them to be equal to everything.

  7. ‘The firm, the enduring, the simple, the modest: such people are close to virtue.

  8. ‘Boasting, resentment, covetousness, ignorance: these are the marks of inferiority.’

  9. The master said, ‘It is hard not to complain when one is poor, but it is easy not to be proud when one is rich.

10. ‘Who is the good man? He who, when tempted by gain, thinks of righteousness;

11. ‘When faced with danger, summons his courage;

12. ‘And who never forgets an old promise, however far back it extends.

13. ‘When times are good, it is because people learn with a view to their own improvement.

14. ‘When times are bad, it is because people learn to win the approbation of others.’

15. The master said, ‘The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.’

16. The master said, ‘The way of the superior man is threefold, but I am not equal to it:

17. ‘Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear.’

18. The master said, ‘I will not be concerned at people not knowing me; I will be concerned at my own want of ability.’