The Master said, 'To be poor without murmuring is difficult. Of Pien, with three hundred families, was taken from the chief of the Po family, who did not utter a murmuring word, though, to the end of his life, he had only coarse rice to eat.' The Master said, 'That man! That man!' He asked about Kwan Chung. The Master said, 'In preparing the governmental notifications, P'i Shan first made the rough draft Shi-shu examined and discussed its contents Tsze-yu, the manager of foreign intercourse, then polished the style and, finally, Tsze-ch'an of Tung-li gave it the proper elegance and finish.' The Master said, 'Can there be love which does not lead to strictness with its object? Can there be loyalty which does not lead to the instruction of its object?' The Master said, 'Superior men, and yet not always virtuous, there have been, alas! But there never has been a mean man, and, at the same time, virtuous.' Yu and Chi personally wrought at the toils of husbandry, and they became possessors of the kingdom.' The Master made no reply but when Nan-kung Kwo went out, he said, 'A superior man indeed is this! An esteemer of virtue indeed is this!' Nan-kung Kwo, submitting an inquiry to Confucius, said, 'I was skillful at archery, and Ao could move a boat along upon the land, but neither of them died a natural death. Men of principle are sure to be bold, but those who are bold may not always be men of principle.' The Master said, 'The virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but those whose speech is good may not always be virtuous. When bad government prevails, the actions may be lofty and bold, but the language may be with some reserve.' The Master said, 'When good government prevails in a state, language may be lofty and bold, and actions the same. The Master said, 'The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.'

But I do not know that it is to be deemed perfect virtue.'

The Master said, 'This may be regarded as the achievement of what is difficult. 'When the love of superiority, boasting, resentments, and covetousness are repressed, this may be deemed perfect virtue.' The Master said, 'When good government prevails in a state, to be thinking only of salary and, when bad government prevails, to be thinking, in the same way, only of salary -this is shameful.'

The analects meaning