Sunday, December 25, 2011

Chapter 9, Part 6 - Confucius

A high officer asked Tsze-kung, saying, "May we not say that your Master is a sage? How various is his ability!"

Tsze-kung said, "Certainly Heaven has endowed him unlimitedly. He is about a sage. And, moreover, his ability is various."

The Master heard of the conversation and said, "Does the high officer know me? When I was young, my condition was low, and I acquired my ability in many things, but they were mean matters. Must the superior man have such variety of ability? He does not need variety of ability."

Lao said, "The Master said, 'Having no official employment, I acquired many arts.'"
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~
Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

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