“A scholar whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with.  A man should say, ’I am not concerned that I have no place,—­I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.  I am not concerned that I am not known; I seek to be worthy to be known.’” Here Confucius looks to the essence of things, not to popular desires.  In the following, on the other hand, he shows his prudence and policy:  “In serving a prince, frequent remonstrances lead to disgrace; between friends, frequent reproofs make the friendship distant.”  Thus he talks like Solomon.  “Tsae-yu, one of his disciples, being asleep in the day-time, the master said, ’Rotten wood cannot be carved.  This Yu—­what is the use of my reproving him?’” Of a virtuous prince, he said:  “In his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superiors, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just.”

It was discussed among his followers what it is to be distinguished.  One said:  “It is to be heard of through the family and State.”  The master replied:  “That is notoriety, not distinction.”  Again he said:  “Though a man may be able to recite three hundred odes, yet if when intrusted with office he does not know how to act, of what practical use is his poetical knowledge?” Again, “If a minister cannot rectify himself, what has he to do with rectifying others?” There is great force in this saying:  “The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please, since you cannot please him in any way which is not accordant with right; but the mean man is difficult to serve and easy to please.  The superior man has a dignified ease without pride; the mean man has pride without a dignified ease.”  A disciple asked him what qualities a man must possess to entitle him to be called a scholar.  The master said:  “He must be earnest, urgent, and bland,—­among his friends earnest and urgent, among his brethren bland.”  And, “The scholar who cherishes a love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.”  “If a man,” he said, “take no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.”  And again, “He who requires much from himself and little from others, he will keep himself from being an object of resentment.”  These proverbs remind us of Bacon:  “Specious words confound virtue.”  “Want of forbearance in small matters confound great plans.”  “Virtue,” the master said, “is more to man than either fire or water.  I have seen men die from treading on water or fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.”  This is a lofty sentiment, but I think it is not in accordance with the records of martyrdom.  “There are three things,” he continued, “which the superior man guards against:  In youth he guards against his passions, in manhood against quarrelsomeness, and in old age against covetousness.”