Confucian Canon 211-240

212
The Master said, "The leaving 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."
213
When the Master was unoccupied with business, his manner was easy, and he looked pleased.
214
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 Chau."
215
The Master said, "Let the will be set on the path of duty.
216
"Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped.
217
"Let perfect virtue be accorded with.
218
"Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts."
219
The Master said, "From the man bringing his bundle of dried flesh for my teaching upwards, I have never refused
instruction to any one."
220
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."
221
When the Master was eating by the side of a mourner, he never ate to the full.
222
He did not sing on the same day in which he had been weeping.
223
The Master said to Yen Yuan, "When called to office, to undertake its duties; when not so called, to he retired;-it is
only I and you who have attained to this."
224
Tsze-lu said, "If you had the conduct of the armies of a great state, whom would you have to act with you?"
225
The Master said, "I would not have him to act with me, who will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a
boat, dying without any regret. 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."
226
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."
227
The things in reference to which the Master exercised the greatest caution were-fasting, war, and sickness.
228
When the Master was in Ch'i, he heard the Shao, and for three months did not know the taste of flesh. "I did not
think'" he said, "that music could have been made so excellent as this."
229
Yen Yu said, "Is our Master for the ruler of Wei?" Tsze-kung said, "Oh! I will ask him."
230
He went in accordingly, and said, "What sort of men were Po-i and Shu-ch'i?" "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, Tsze-kung went out and said, "Our
Master is not for him."
231
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."
232
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."
233
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.
234
The Duke of Sheh asked Tsze-lu about Confucius, and Tsze-lu did not answer him.
235
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?"
236
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."
237
The subjects on which the Master did not talk, were-extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual
beings.
238
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."
239
The Master said, "Heaven produced the virtue that is in me. Hwan T'ui-what can he do to me?"
240
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."