"Daya" says: Although morality is as light as a feather, few people can lift it up. I guess that only Zhong Shanfu can lift it, but unfortunately there is no one who can help him. "Xiao Ya" said: The mountains can be admired, and the avenues can be walked. Confucius said: The Book of Songs is so benevolent. Towards the avenue of benevolence, halfway through, there was really no strength, so I had to stop, forgetting that my body was aging, and that my time was short; Still tireless, struggling forward, and dying.

Confucius said: It has been difficult for benevolence to succeed for a long time. Because human abilities are limited, it is difficult to do them all, so the mistakes made by benevolent people are easy to explain. Confucius said: Respect is close to courtesy, humility is close to benevolence, and honesty is close to human affection; If you can behave and do things with a respectful and humble attitude, even if there is any mistake, it will not be a big mistake. If you are respectful, you will make fewer mistakes, if you are close to human affection, you will be trusted, and if you are humble, you will be easy to be accepted.

The Book of Songs says: A gentle and respectful person is the cornerstone of morality. Confucius said: It has been difficult for benevolence to succeed for a long time, and only a gentleman can succeed. Therefore, a gentleman does not blame others for what he can do, nor does he make others feel ashamed of what others can't do. Therefore, when the saints set the standards of behavior, they did not take themselves as the standard, but the people of the middle level, so that those who knew how to work hard would be exhorted, and those who did not know how to work hard would be ashamed, so that they could jointly implement the teachings of the saints. Restraining them with courtesy, uniting them with integrity, adorning them with proper grooming, influencing them with proper clothing, encouraging them with exhortations among friends, all in order to make them single-minded for what is good.

"Xiaoya" said: Aren't people ashamed? Aren't you afraid of heaven's retribution? Therefore, the gentleman put on the clothes of a gentleman, and decorated it with the appearance of a gentleman; With the appearance of a gentleman, it is necessary to use the gentleman's conversation to decorate it; If the conversation is elegant, it must be enriched with the morality of a gentleman. Therefore, a gentleman is ashamed to put on a gentleman's clothes without a gentleman's appearance, ashamed to have only a gentleman's appearance and no gentleman's speech, ashamed to have only a gentleman's speech and no gentleman's morality, and ashamed to have only a gentleman's morality and no gentleman's behavior.

Therefore, a gentleman will have a sad look when he wears a mourning dress, a respectful look when he wears a court dress, and an inviolable look when he wears a military uniform. The Book of Songs says: The pelican rested on the fish beam, and the water did not wet its wings. A small man like him doesn't deserve to wear that nice dress.

Confucius said: The so-called righteousness of a gentleman means that a person, regardless of his status, must make due contributions to the world. For example, the Son of Heaven, although he is supreme and noble, also ploughs the fields and produces the 粢盛秬鬯 (zīchéngjùchàng) to worship the Emperor of Heaven; Therefore the princes should also assist the Son of Heaven diligently. Confucius said: Those who serve in the lower positions in the higher positions, although they have the great virtue of protecting the people, do not dare to have the idea of ruling the people, which is a manifestation of benevolence. Therefore, a gentleman is respectful and humble in order to be benevolent, and honest and humble in order to be courteous; Don't boast about what you've done, don't raise your worth; show humility in front of status, show indifference in front of fame and fortune, and give way to sages; degrading oneself and exalting others, being cautious and fearless, demanding that oneself serve the king with such an attitude; When you are proud, you will do this, and when you are unwilling, you will also do this, and everything is left to fate.

The Book of Songs says: Dense kudzu vines, entwined with trunks and branches. An approachable gentleman, do not take the evil path to ask for blessings. It's probably Shun, Yu, King Wen, and Zhou Gong! They all have the virtue of governing the people, and they have the care to serve the monarch. The Book of Songs says: King Wen of Zhou was cautious, knew how to worship God, and received many blessings. His virtue made it impossible to find fault, and he was finally supported by the princes of the world.

Confucius said: When the minister died, the first king added a nickname to him to commend his life. In spite of the many good deeds done by the deceased in his life, only the most prominent points of the deceased's life are taken as the basis for the name of the deceased, and the rest is omitted, because he is ashamed to make his reputation more than what he actually did. Therefore a gentleman does not exaggerate what he has done, does not boast of his merits, in order to be realistic; If there is a mistake, do not repeat it, so as to be lenient to others; Recognize the merits of others and praise the merits of others, so that the sage can be on top. In this way, although the gentleman depreciates himself, the people respect him very much. Confucius said: Houji is a person who has established a unique meritorious deed, and it is not just one or two people who have benefited from him? It's just that because he wants to make what he has actually done more than his reputation, he claims to be a man who knows how to grow crops.

Confucius said: The so-called benevolence of a gentleman is quite difficult to do! The Book of Songs says: A happy and easy gentleman is the parent of the people. A gentleman teaches people with happiness and makes them self-reliant; With ease of peace and security, make people feel happy. To make the people happy and not to waste their careers, to be courteous and loving to one another, to be dignified and peaceful, to be filial and loving, to be respectful and respectful, to make the people respect themselves as they respect their fathers, and to draw close to themselves as they are to their mothers, and only then can they become parents of the people, and who can do this if they do not possess the highest virtue?

Now the father's dear son, the son is virtuous, he will kiss, and the son is incompetent, he will look down on him; A mother's dear son, she kisses her son's ability, and she pities her son's incompetence. Therefore, the mother is amiable but not respectable, and the father is respectable but not kissable. For people, water is amiable but not respectable, and fire is respectable but not respectable. For people. The land is amiable but not respectable, and the sky is respectable but not respectable. For the people, the decree of the king is amiable but not respectable, and the ghosts and gods are respectable but not respectable.