2.1  Master Kong said: A ruler who governs his state by virtue is like the north polar star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it.

子曰：「為政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而眾星共之。」

2.2  Master Kong said: All three hundred odes can be covered by one of their sentences, and that is, “Have no depraved thoughts.”¹

子曰：「詩三百，一言以蔽之，曰『思無邪』。」

2.3  Master Kong said: Lead the people with governmental measures and regulate them by law and punishment, and they will avoid wrong-doing but will have no sense of honor and shame. Lead them with virtue and regulate them by the rules of propriety (li 禮), and they will have a sense of shame and, moreover, set themselves right.

子曰：「道之以政，齊之以刑，民免而無恥；道之以德，齊之以禮，有恥且格。」

2.4  Master Kong said: At fifteen my mind was set on learning. At thirty my character had been formed. At forty I had no more perplexities. At fifty I knew the Mandate of Heaven (Tianming 天命). At sixty I was at ease with whatever I heard. At seventy I could follow my heart’s desire without transgressing moral principles.

子曰：「吾十有五而志于學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」

2.5  Meng Yizi² asked about filial piety (xiao 孝).

Master Kong said: Never disobey.

[Later,] when Fan Chi³ was driving him, Kongzi told him: Meng Yizi asked me about filial piety, and I answered him, “Never disobey.”

Fan Chi said: What does that mean?

Kongzi said: When parents are alive, serve them according to the rules of propriety. When they die, bury them according to the rules of propriety and sacrifice to them according to the rules of propriety.

孟懿子問孝。子曰：「無違。」樊遲御，子告之曰：「孟孫問孝於我，我對曰『無違』。」樊遲曰：「何謂也？」子曰：「生事之以禮；死葬之以禮，祭之以禮。」

2.6  Meng Wubo⁴ asked about filial piety.

Master Kong said: Especially be anxious lest parents should be sick.

孟武伯問孝。子曰：「父母唯其疾之憂。」

2.7  Ziyou⁵ asked about filial piety.

Master Kong said: Filial piety nowadays means to be able to support one’s parents. But we support even dogs and horses. If there is no feeling of reverence, wherein lies the difference?

子游問孝。子曰：「今之孝者，是謂能養。至於犬馬，皆能有養；不敬，何以別乎？」

2:11  Master Kong said: A man who reviews the old so as to find out the new is qualified to teach others.

子曰：「溫故而知新，可以為師矣。」

2.12  Master Kong said: The superior man is not an implement (qi 器 “implement or utensil”).

子曰：「君子不器。」

2.13  Zigong asked about the superior man (junzi 君子).

Master Kong said: He acts before he speaks and then speaks according to his action.

子貢問君子。子曰：「先行其言，而後從之。」

2.14  Master Kong said: The superior man is broadminded but not partisan; the inferior man is partisan but not broadminded.

子曰：「君子周而不比，小人比而不周。」

2.15  Master Kong said: He who learns but does not think is lost; he who thinks but does not learn is in danger.

子曰：「學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。」

2.17  Master Kong said: Zilu⁶, shall I teach you [the way to acquire] knowledge? To say that you know when you do know and say that you do not know when you do not know—that is [the way to acquire] knowledge.

子曰：「由！誨女知之乎？知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」

2.18  Zizhang⁷ was learning with a view to official emolument.

Master Kong said: Hear much and put aside what’s doubtful while you speak cautiously of the rest. Then few will blame you. See much and put aside what seems perilous while you are cautious in carrying the rest into practice. Then you will have few occasions for regret. When one’s words give few occasions for blame and his acts give few occasions for repentance—there lies his emolument.

子張學干祿。子曰：「多聞闕疑，慎言其餘，則寡尤；多見闕殆，慎行其餘，則寡悔。言寡尤，行寡悔，祿在其中矣。」

2.24  Master Kong said: It is flattery to offer sacrifice to ancestral spirits other than one’s own. To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.

子曰：「非其鬼而祭之，諂也。見義不為，無勇也。」