Tsze-kung finally inquired, 'Of what sort are those of the
present day, who engage in government?' The Master said 'Pooh!
they are so many pecks and hampers, not worth being taken into
account.'
CHAP. XXI. 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.'
CHAP. XXII. 1. The Master said, 'The people of the south have
a saying— "A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a
doctor." Good!
'Inconstant in his virtue, he will be visited with disgrace.'
The Master said, 'This arises simply from not attending to
the prognostication.'
CHAP. XXIII. The Master said, 'The superior man is affable,
but not adulatory; the mean man is adulatory, but not affable.'
CHAP. XXIV. Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'What do you say of a
man who is loved by all the people of his neighborhood?' The
Master replied, 'We may not for that accord our approval of him.'
'And what do you say of him who is hated by all the people of his
neighborhood?' The Master said, 'We may not for that conclude that
he is bad. It is better than either of these cases that the good in the
neighborhood love him, and the bad hate him.'
CHAP. XXV. The Master said, 'The superior man is easy to
serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way
which is not accordant with right, he will not be pleased. But in his