The Analects of Confucius 論語
7. 《述而》 Shu Er
Click on any word to see more details.
《述而》 Shu Er子曰：「述而不作，信而好古，竊比於我老彭。」
The Master said, "A transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients, I venture to compare myself with our old Peng."
子曰：「默而識之，學而不厭，誨人不倦，何有於我哉？」
The Master said, "The silent treasuring up of knowledge; learning without satiety; and instructing others without being wearied - which one of these things belongs to me?"
子曰：「德之不脩，學之不講，聞義不能徙，不善不能改，是吾憂也。」
The Master said, "The learning virtue without proper cultivation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learned; not being able to move towards righteousness of which a knowledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not good - these are the things which occasion me solicitude."
子之燕居，申申如也，夭夭如也。
When the Master was unoccupied with business, his manner was easy, and he looked pleased.
5
子曰：「甚矣吾衰也！久矣吾不復夢見周公。」
The Master said, "Extreme is my decay. For a long time, I have not dreamed, as I was wont to do, that I saw the duke of Zhou."
子曰：「志於道，據於德，依於仁，游於藝。」
The Master said, "Let the will be set on the path of duty. Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped. Let perfect virtue be accorded with. Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts."
子曰：「自行束脩以上，吾未嘗無誨焉。」
The Master said, "From the man bringing his bundle of dried flesh for my teaching upwards, I have never refused instruction to any one."
子曰：「不憤不啟，不悱不發，舉一隅不以三隅反，則不復也。」
The Master said, "I do not open up the truth to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject to any one, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson."
子食於有喪者之側，未嘗飽也。
When the Master was eating by the side of a mourner, he never ate to the full.
10
子於是日哭，則不歌。
On a day when the master had wept, he did not sing.
子謂顏淵曰：「用之則行，舍之則藏，唯我與爾有是夫！」子路曰：「子行三軍，則誰與？」子曰：「暴虎馮河，死而無悔者，吾不與也。必也臨事而懼，好謀而成者也。」
The Master said to Yan Yuan, "When called to office, to undertake its duties; when not so called, to lie retired - it is only I and you who have attained to this." Zi Lu said, "If you had the conduct of the armies of a great state, whom would you have to act with you?" The Master said, "He who will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a boat, dying without any regret, I would not have act with me. My associate must be the man who proceeds to action full of solicitude, who is fond of adjusting his plans, and then carries them into execution."
子曰：「富而可求也，雖執鞭之士，吾亦為之。如不可求，從吾所好。」
The Master said, "If the search for riches is sure to be successful, though I should become a groom with whip in hand to get them, I will do so. As the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love."
子之所慎：齊，戰，疾。
The things in reference to which the Master exercised the greatest caution were - fasting, war, and sickness.
子在齊聞韶，三月不知肉味。曰：「不圖為樂之至於斯也！」
When the Master was in Qi, he heard the Shao, and for three months did not know the taste of flesh. He said, "I did not think that music could have been made so excellent as this."
15
冉有曰：「夫子為衛君乎？」子貢曰：「諾。吾將問之。」入，曰：「伯夷、叔齊何人也？」曰：「古之賢人也。」曰：「怨乎？」曰：「求仁而得仁，又何怨。」出，曰：「夫子不為也。」
Ran You said, "Is our Master for the ruler of Wei?" Zi Gong said, "Oh! I will ask him." He went in accordingly, and said, "What sort of men were Bo Yi and Shu Qi?" "They were ancient worthies," said the Master. "Did they have any repinings because of their course?" The Master again replied, "They sought to act virtuously, and they did so; what was there for them to repine about?" On this, Zi Gong went out and said, "Our Master is not for him."
子曰：「飯疏食飲水，曲肱而枕之，樂亦在其中矣。不義而富且貴，於我如浮雲。」
The Master said, "With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow; I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness, are to me as a floating cloud."
子曰：「加我數年，五十以學易，可以無大過矣。」
The Master said, "If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi, and then I might come to be without great faults."
子所雅言，詩、書、執禮，皆雅言也。
The Master's frequent themes of discourse were: the Odes, the History, and the maintenance of the Rules of Propriety. On all these he frequently discoursed.
葉公問孔子於子路，子路不對。子曰：「女奚不曰，其為人也，發憤忘食，樂以忘憂，不知老之將至云爾。」
The Duke of She asked Zi Lu about Confucius, and Zi Lu did not answer him. The Master said, "Why did you not say to him, 'He is simply a man, who in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the joy of its attainment forgets his sorrows, and who does not perceive that old age is coming on?'"
20
子曰：「我非生而知之者，好古，敏以求之者也。」
The Master said, "I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there."
子不語怪，力，亂，神。
The subjects on which the Master did not talk, were: extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings.
子曰：「三人行，必有我師焉。擇其善者而從之，其不善者而改之。」
The Master said, "When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them."
子曰：「天生德於予，桓魋其如予何？」
The Master said, "Heaven produced the virtue that is in me. Huan Tui - what can he do to me?"
子曰：「二三子以我為隱乎？吾無隱乎爾。吾無行而不與二三子者，是丘也。」
The Master said, "Do you think, my disciples, that I have any concealments? I conceal nothing from you. There is nothing which I do that is not shown to you, my disciples; that is my way."
子以四教：文，行，忠，信。
There were four things which the Master taught: letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and truthfulness.
25
子曰：「聖人，吾不得而見之矣；得見君子者，斯可矣。」子曰：「善人，吾不得而見之矣；得見有恆者，斯可矣。亡而為有，虛而為盈，約而為泰，難乎有恆矣。」
The Master said, "A sage it is not mine to see; could I see a man of real talent and virtue, that would satisfy me." The Master said, "A good man it is not mine to see; could I see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me. 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."
子釣而不綱，弋不射宿。
The Master angled, but did not use a net. He shot, but not at birds perching.
子曰：「蓋有不知而作之者，我無是也。多聞擇其善者而從之，多見而識之，知之次也。」
The Master said, "There may be those who act without knowing why. I do not do so. Hearing much and selecting what is good and following it; seeing much and keeping it in memory - this is the second style of knowledge."
互鄉難與言，童子見，門人惑。子曰：「與其進也，不與其退也，唯何甚！人潔己以進，與其潔也，不保其往也。」
It was difficult to talk (profitably and reputably) with the people of Hu Xiang, and a lad of that place having had an interview with the Master, the disciples doubted. The Master said, "I admit people's approach to me without committing myself as to what they may do when they have retired. Why must one be so severe? If a man purify himself to wait upon me, I receive him so purified, without guaranteeing his past conduct."
子曰：「仁遠乎哉？我欲仁，斯仁至矣。」
The Master said, "Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! virtue is at hand."
30
陳司敗問昭公知禮乎？孔子曰：「知禮。」孔子退，揖巫馬期而進之，曰：「吾聞君子不黨，君子亦黨乎？君取於吳為同姓，謂之吳孟子。君而知禮，孰不知禮？」巫馬期以告。子曰：「丘也幸，苟有過，人必知之。」
The minister of crime of Chen asked whether the duke Zhao knew propriety, and Confucius said, "He knew propriety." Confucius having retired, the minister bowed to Wu Ma Qi to come forward, and said, "I have heard that the superior man is not a partisan. May the superior man be a partisan also? The prince married a daughter of the house of Wu, of the same surname with himself, and called her, 'The elder Zi of Wu.' If the prince knew propriety, who does not know it?" Wu Ma Qi reported these remarks, and the Master said, "I am fortunate! If I have any errors, people are sure to know them."
子與人歌而善，必使反之，而後和之。
When the Master was in company with a person who was singing, if he sang well, he would make him repeat the song, while he accompanied it with his own voice.
子曰：「文，莫吾猶人也。躬行君子，則吾未之有得。」
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."
子曰：「若聖與仁，則吾豈敢？抑為之不厭，誨人不倦，則可謂云爾已矣。」公西華曰：「正唯弟子不能學也。」
The Master said, "The sage and the man of perfect virtue - how dare I rank myself with them? That I strive to become such without satiety, and teach others without weariness - this much can be said of me." Gong Xi Hua said, "This is just what we, the disciples, cannot imitate you in."
子疾病，子路請禱。子曰：「有諸？」子路對曰：「有之。誄曰：『禱爾于上下神祇。』」子曰：「丘之禱久矣。」
The Master being very sick, Zi Lu asked leave to pray for him. He said, "May such a thing be done?" Zi Lu replied, "It may. In the Eulogies it is said, 'Prayer has been made for thee to the spirits of the upper and lower worlds.'" The Master said, "My praying has been for a long time."
35
子曰：「奢則不孫，儉則固。與其不孫也，寧固。」
The Master said, "Extravagance leads to insubordination, and parsimony to meanness. It is better to be mean than to be insubordinate."
子曰：「君子坦蕩蕩，小人長戚戚。」
The Master said, "The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress."
子溫而厲，威而不猛，恭而安。
The Master was mild, and yet dignified; majestic, and yet not fierce; respectful, and yet easy.
Source: Chinese Text Project http://ctext.org/analects, from "The Chinese Classics, volume 1", James Legge, 1861
Dictionary cache status: not loaded