The Master discusses with his disciples and unveil his preoccupations with society. Tr. Legge (en), Lau (en) and Couvreur (fr).
Confucius obliged to content himself with the ardent and cautious as disciples.
The Master said, "Since I cannot get men pursuing the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I must find the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent will advance and lay hold of truth; the cautiously-decided will keep themselves from what is wrong."
Legge XIII.21.
The Master said, 'Having failed to find moderate men for associates, one would, if there were no alternative, have to turn to the undisciplined and the over-scrupulous. The former are enterprising, while the latter will draw the line at certain kinds of action.'
Lau [13:21]
Le Maître dit : « Comme je ne trouve pas de disciples capables de se tenir constamment dans le milieu juste, je cherche des hommes qui sont impétueux, ou des hommes qui ont l'amour du devoir. Les premiers sont entreprenants. Les seconds s'abstiennent de [mal] faire. »
Couvreur XIII.21.
The Analects of Confucius – Lun Yu XIII. 21. (338) – Chinese off/on – Français/English
Alias the Lunyu, the Lun Yü, the Analects, les Entretiens du maître avec ses disciples.
The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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