The Master said, "T'ai-po may be said to have reached the highestpoint of virtuous action. Thrice he declined the kingdom, and thepeople in ignorance of his motives could not express their approbationof his conduct."The Master said, "Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety,becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without the rules of propriety,becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules of propriety, becomesinsubordination; straightforwardness, without the rules of propriety,becomes rudeness.

　　"When those who are in high stations perform well all their dutiesto their relations, the people are aroused to virtue. When old friendsare not neglected by them, the people are preserved from meanness."The philosopher Tsang being ill, he cared to him the disciples ofhis school, and said, "Uncover my feet, uncover my hands. It is saidin the Book of Poetry, 'We should be apprehensive and cautious, asif on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin ice, I andso have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape from all injuryto my person. O ye, my little children."The philosopher Tsang being ill, Meng Chang went to ask how he was.

　　Tsang said to him, "When a bird is about to die, its notes are mournful;when a man is about to die, his words are good.

　　"There are three principles of conduct which the man of high rankshould consider specially important:-that in his deportment and mannerhe keep from violence and heedlessness; that in regulating his countenancehe keep near to sincerity; and that in his words and tones he keepfar from lowness and impropriety. As to such matters as attendingto the sacrificial vessels, there are the proper officers for them."The philosopher Tsang said, "Gifted with ability, and yet puttingquestions to those who were not so; possessed of much, and yet puttingquestions to those possessed of little; having, as though he had not;full, and yet counting himself as empty; offended against, and yetentering into no altercation; formerly I had a friend who pursuedthis style of conduct."The philosopher Tsang said, "Suppose that there is an individual whocan be entrusted with the charge of a young orphan prince, and canbe commissioned with authority over a state of a hundred li, and whomno emergency however great can drive from his principles:-is sucha man a superior man? He is a superior man indeed."The philosopher Tsang said, "The officer may not be without breadthof mind and vigorous endurance. His burden is heavy and his courseis long.

　　"Perfect virtue is the burden which he considers it is his to sustain;-isit not heavy? Only with death does his course stop;-is it not long?

　　The Master said, "It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused.

　　"It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established.

　　"It is from Music that the finish is received."The Master said, "The people may be made to follow a path of action,but they may not b............