The Analects of Confucius: Xue Er
(论语·学而篇)

子曰：“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”

The Master said, “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?”

有子曰：“其为人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鲜矣；不好犯上而好作乱者，未之有也。君子务本，本立而道生。孝弟也者，其为仁之本与！”

The philosopher You said, “They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to offend against their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion. The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission! – are they not the root of all benevolent actions?”

子曰：“巧言令色，鲜矣仁！”

The Master said, “Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”

曾子曰：“吾日三省吾身：为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习乎？”

The philosopher Zeng said, “I daily examine myself on three points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher.”

子曰：“道千乘之国，敬事而信，节用而爱人，使民以时。”

The Master said, “To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.”

子曰：“弟子入则孝，出则弟，谨而信，泛爱众，而亲仁，行有余力，则以学文。”

The Master said, “A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies.”

子夏曰：“贤贤易色；事父母，能竭其力；事君，能致其身；与朋友交，言而有信。虽曰未学，吾必谓之学矣。”

Zi Xia said, “If a man withdraws his mind from the love of beauty, and applies it as sincerely to the love of the virtuous; if, in serving his parents, he can exert his utmost strength; if, in serving his prince, he can devote his life; if, in his intercourse with his friends, his words are sincere – although men say that he has not learned, I will certainly say that he has.”

子曰：“君子不重则不威，学则不固。主忠信，无友不如己者，过，则勿惮改。”

The Master said, “If the scholar be not grave, he will not call forth any veneration, and his learning will not be solid. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”

曾子曰：“慎终追远，民德归厚矣。”

The philosopher Zeng said, “Let there be a careful attention to perform the funeral rites to parents, and let them be followed when long gone with the ceremonies of sacrifice – then the virtue of the people will resume its proper excellence.”

子禽问于子贡曰：“夫子至于是邦也，必闻其政，求之与，抑与之与？”

Zi Qin asked Zi Gong, saying, “When our master comes to any country, he does not fail to learn all about its government. Does he ask his information? or is it given to him?”

子贡曰：“夫子温、良、恭、俭、让以得之。夫子之求之也，其诸异乎人之求之与？”

Zi Gong said, “Our master is benign, upright, courteous, temperate, and complaisant and thus he gets his information. The master’s mode of asking information! – is it not different from that of other men?”

子曰：“父在，观其志；父没，观其行；三年无改于父之道，可谓孝矣。”

The Master said, “While a man’s father is alive, look at the bent of his will; when his father is dead, look at his conduct. If for three years he does not alter from the way of his father, he may be called filial.”

有子曰：“礼之用，和为贵。先王之道，斯为美。小大由之，有所不行。知和而和，不以礼节之，亦不可行也。”

The philosopher You said, “In practicing the rules of propriety, a natural ease is to be prized. In the ways prescribed by the ancient kings, this is the excellent quality, and in things small and great we follow them. Yet it is not to be observed in all cases. If one, knowing how such ease should be prized, manifests it, without regulating it by the rules of propriety, this likewise is not to be done.”

有子曰：“信近于义，言可复也。恭近于礼，远耻辱也。因不失其亲，亦可宗也。”

The philosopher You said, “When agreements are made according to what is right, what is spoken can be made good. When respect is shown according to what is proper, one keeps far from shame and disgrace. When the parties upon whom a man leans are proper persons to be intimate with, he can make them his guides and masters.”

子曰：“君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏于事而慎于言，就有道而正焉，可谓好学也已。”

The Master said, “He who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite, nor in his dwelling place does he seek the appliances of ease; he is earnest in what he is doing, and careful in his speech; he frequents the company of men of principle that he may be rectified – such a person may be said indeed to love to learn.”

子贡曰：“贫而无谄，富而无骄，何如？”

Zi Gong said, “What do you pronounce concerning the poor man who yet does not flatter, and the rich man who is not proud?”

子曰：“可也。未若贫而乐，富而好礼者也。”

The Master replied, “They will do; but they are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful, and to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety.”

子贡曰：“《诗》云：‘如切如磋，如琢如磨’，其斯之谓与？”

Zi Gong replied, “It is said in the Book of Poetry, ‘As you cut and then file, as you carve and then polish.’ – The meaning is the same, I apprehend, as that which you have just expressed.”

子曰：“赐也，始可与言《诗》已矣，告诸往而知来者。”

The Master said, “With one like Ci, I can begin to talk about the odes. I told him one point, and he knew its proper sequence.”

子曰：“不患人之不己知，患不知人也。”

The Master said, “I will not be afflicted at men’s not knowing me; I will be afflicted that I do not know men.”