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Delphi Collected Works of Confucius - Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism (Illustrated)

Book by Confucius · 3 quotes · Men, Superior Man, Superiors

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Delphi Collected Works of Confucius - Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism (Illustrated) Quotes

“Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, if, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but exert himself; and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license.”

“Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it.”

“In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself.”