Confucious was a Chinese philospher who lived in
the sixth century BC China. He was known by several other names
such as Kong Qiu, Zhongni,Kongzi, Kong Fuzi and Master. He spent
most of his life in exile, but left behind a powerful legacy in
the form of numerous ideas which are still held in great respect.
His sayings and thoughts were preserved by his disciples some of
whom also gained popularity.
The superior man learns in order to attain to the utmost
of his principles. (Analects, bk. xix., c. vii.)
The superior man in his thought does not go out of his place.
(Analects, bk. xiv., c. xxviii.)
What the superior man seeks, is in himself; what the ordinary
1 man seeks, is in others.
(Analects, bk. xv., c. xx.)
The superior man in everything puts forth his utmost endeavours.
(Great Learning, ii., 4.)
The superior man bends his attention to what is radical.
That being established, all practical courses naturally grow
up. (Analects, bk. i., c. ii., v. 2.)
The superior man must make his thoughts sincere. (Great Learning,
vi., 4.) Is it not his absolute sincerity which distinguishes
a superior man? (Doctrine of the Mean, c. xiii., 4.)
What the superior man requires is that in what he says there
may be nothing inaccurate. (Analects, bk. xiii., c. iii., v.
7.)
The superior man must be watchful over himself when alone.
(Great Learning, vi., 2.)
The object of the superior man is truth. (Analects, bk. xv.,
c. xxxi.) The superior man is anxious lest he should not get
truth; he is not anxious lest poverty come upon him. (Analects,
bk. xv., c. xxxi.)
The superior man is catholic and not partisan; the ordinary
man is partisan and not catholic. (Analects, bk. ii., c. xiv.)
The superior man in the world does not set his mind either for
anything or against anything; what is right, he will follow.
(Analects, bk. iv., c. x.)
The superior man thinks of virtue; the ordinary man thinks
of comfort. (Analects, bk. iv., c. xi.)
The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness;
the mind of the ordinary man is conversant with gain. (Analects,
bk. iv., c. xxi.)
The superior man in all things considers righteousness essential.
(Analects, bk. xv., c. xvii.)
The superior man wishes to be slow in his words and earnest
in his conduct. (Analects, bk. iv., c. xxiv.)
The superior man is satisfied and composed; the ordinary
man is always full of distress. (Analects, bk. vii., c. xxxvi.)
The superior man may indeed have to endure want; but the ordinary
man, when he is in want, gives way to unbridled license. (Analects,
bk. xv., c. i., v. 3.)
The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear. (Analects,
bk. xii., c. iv., v. i.) When internal examination discovers
nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there
to fear? (Analects, bk. xi., c. iv., v. 3.) They sought to act
virtuously and they did so; and what was there for them to repine
about? (Analects, bk. vii., c. xiv., v. 2.)
The superior man has dignified ease without pride; the ordinary
man has pride without dignified ease. (Analects, bk. xiii.,
c. xxvi.) The superior man is dignified and does not wrangle.
(Analects, bk. xv., c. xxi.)
Refusing to surrender their wills or to submit to any taint
to their persons. (Analects, bk. xviii., c. viii., v. 2.)
The superior man is correctly firm and not merely firm. (Analects,
bk. xv., c. xxxvi.)
Looked at from a distance, he appears stern; when approached,
he is mild; when he is heard to speak, his language is firm
and decided. (Analects, bk. xix., c. ix.)
The superior man is affable but not adulatory; the ordinary
man is adulatory but not affable. (Analects, bk. xiii., c. xxiii.)
I have heard that the superior man helps the distressed,
but he does not add to the wealth of the rich. (Analects, bk.
vi., c. iii., v. 2.)
The progress of the superior man is upward, the progress
of the ordinary man is downward. (Analects, bk. xiv., c. xxiv.)
The superior man is distressed by his want of ability; he is
not distressed by men's not knowing him. (Analects, bk. xv.,
c. xviii.)
The superior man cannot be known in little matters but may
be entrusted with great concerns. (Analects, bk. xv., c. xxxiii.)
The faults of the superior man are like the sun and moon.
He has his faults and all men see them. He changes again and
all men low look up to him. (Analects, bk. xix., c. xxi.)
The superior man seeks to develop the admirable qualities
of men and does not seek to develop their evil qualities. The
ordinary man does the opposite of this. (Analects, bk. xii.,
c. xvi.)
The superior man honours talent and virtue and bears with
all. He praises the good and pities the incompetent. (Analects,
bk. xix., c. iii.) The superior man does not promote a man on
account of his words, nor does he put aside good words on account
of the man. (Analects, bk. xv., c. xxii.)
To be able to judge others by what is in ourselves, this
may be called the art of virtue. (Analects, bk. vi., c. xxviii.,
v. 3.)
The superior man conforms with the path of the mean. (Doctrine
of the Mean, c. xi., vi. 3.)
When Gm cultivates to the utmost the capabilities of his
nature and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he
is not far from the path. What you do not want done to yourself,
do not do unto others. (Doctrine of the Mean, c. xiii., v. 3.)
That wherein the superior man cannot be equalled is simply
this, his work which other men cannot see. (Doctrine of the
Mean, c. xxxiii., v. 2.)
