The Master said: A man of inward virtue[27] will have virtuous words on his lips, but a man of virtuous words is not always a virtuous man. The man of perfect goodness is sure to possess courage, but the courageous man is not necessarily good.
Can true love be anything but exacting? How can our sense of duty allow us to abstain from admonition?
The nobler sort of man tends upwards; the baser sort tends downwards.
The princely type of man is modest in his speech, but liberal in his performance.
The princely man has three great virtues, which I cannot claim for myself. He is truly benevolent, and is free from care; he is truly wise, and is free from delusions; he is truly brave, and is free from fear.—Nay, replied Tzŭ Kung, these virtues are our Master's own.[27]
The Master said: Is not he a sage who neither anticipates deceit nor suspects bad faith in others, yet is prompt to detect them when they appear?
Some one asked: How do you regard the principle of returning good for evil?—The Master said: What, then, is to be the return for good? Rather should you return justice for injustice, and good for good.[28]
Tzŭ Lu asked about the conduct of the princely man.[29] The Master said: He cultivates himself so as to gain in self-respect.—Does he rest content with that?—He cultivates himself, was the reply, so as to give happiness to others.—And is he content with that?—He cultivates himself so as to confer peace and prosperity on the whole people.
By self-cultivation to confer peace and prosperity on the whole people!—was not this the object which Yao and Shun still laboured to attain?