Confucian Canon 171-300

271
The Master said, "It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused.
272
"It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established.
273
"It is from Music that the finish is received."
274
The Master said, "The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it."
275
The Master said, "The man who is fond of daring and is dissatisfied with poverty, will proceed to insubordination. So
will the man who is not virtuous, when you carry your dislike of him to an extreme."
276
The Master said, "Though a man have abilities as admirable as those of the Duke of Chau, yet if he be proud and
niggardly, those other things are really not worth being looked at."
277
The Master said, "It is not easy to find a man who has learned for three years without coming to be good."
278
The Master said, "With sincere faith he unites the love of learning; holding firm to death, he is perfecting the excellence
of his course.
279
"Such an one will not enter a tottering state, nor dwell in a disorganized one. When right principles of government
prevail in the kingdom, he will show himself; when they are prostrated, he will keep concealed.
280
"When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill
governed, riches and honor are things to be ashamed of."
281
The Master said, "He who is not in any particular office has nothing to do with plans for the administration of its
duties."
282
The Master said, "When the music master Chih first entered on his office, the finish of the Kwan Tsu was
magnificent;-how it filled the ears!"
283
The Master said, "Ardent and yet not upright, stupid and yet not attentive; simple and yet not sincere:-such persons I
do not understand."
284
The Master said, "Learn as if you could not reach your object, and were always fearing also lest you should lose it."
285
The Master said, "How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yu held possession of the empire, as if it were
nothing to them!
286
The Master said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and
only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it.
287
"How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he
instituted!"
Confucian Analects : texts 247 - 287
Confucian Analects : texts 288 - 328
288
Shun had five ministers, and the empire was well governed.
289
King Wu said, "I have ten able ministers."
290
Confucius said, "Is not the saying that talents are difficult to find, true? Only when the dynasties of T'ang and Yu met,
were they more abundant than in this of Chau, yet there was a woman among them. The able ministers were no more
than nine men.
291
"King Wan possessed two of the three parts of the empire, and with those he served the dynasty of Yin. The virtue of
the house of Chau may be said to have reached the highest point indeed."
292
The Master said, "I can find no flaw in the character of Yu. He used himself coarse food and drink, but displayed the
utmost filial piety towards the spirits. His ordinary garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his
sacrificial cap and apron. He lived in a low, mean house, but expended all his strength on the ditches and water
channels. I can find nothing like a flaw in Yu."
293
The subjects of which the Master seldom spoke were-profitableness, and also the appointments of Heaven, and
perfect virtue.
294
A man of the village of Ta-hsiang said, "Great indeed is the philosopher K'ung! His learning is extensive, and yet he
does not render his name famous by any particular thing."
295
The Master heard the observation, and said to his disciples, "What shall I practice? Shall I practice charioteering, or
shall I practice archery? I will practice charioteering."
296
The Master said, "The linen cap is that prescribed by the rules of ceremony, but now a silk one is worn. It is
economical, and I follow the common practice.
297
"The rules of ceremony prescribe the bowing below the hall, but now the practice is to bow only after ascending it.
That is arrogant. I continue to bow below the hall, though I oppose the common practice."
298
There were four things from which the Master was entirely free. He had no foregone conclusions, no arbitrary
predeterminations, no obstinacy, and no egoism.
299
The Master was put in fear in K'wang.
300
He said, "After the death of King Wan, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me?