What are the motifs in The Analects by Confucius?

The Analects recurring idea of an ideal moral character is based on the gentleman. The term is used as an icon for men in authority with a cultivated moral character. The gentleman is contrasted with the small man, who is ruled over and is of uncultivated moral character. The lowest level of Confucius' stratified social system is the common people. The gentleman and benevolent man are referred to as the same man because benevolence is the supreme moral quality.