Worship the dead as though they stood alive before you. Sacrifice to the spirits as if they were in your immediate presence.
If I am not personally present when the sacrifice is being made, then I do not sacrifice. There can be no proxy in this matter.
Tze-kung wanted to do away with the offering of a sheep at the new moon. The master said, "Thou lovest the sheep, but I love the ceremony."
These things are not to be tolerated: Rank without generosity, ritual without reverence, and mourning without genuine sorrow.
It is better to have virtue with want and ignominy, than wealth and honour without virtue.
If a man in the morning learns the right way of life he may die at night without regret.
A scholar's mind should be set on the search for truth, and he should not be ashamed of poor clothes or of plain or even of insufficient food.
The superior man loves the good and pursues it; besides this, he has no likes or dislikes.
The good man considers what is right; the bad manwhat will pay.
As long as thy parents live thou must not go far from them. But if through necessity thou leavest them, let them know where thou art, and be ready to come to them when needed.