The Analects II

「學而時習之，不亦說乎？有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎？人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎？」

Translation: "Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn't it also great when friends visit from distant places? If people do not recognize me and it doesn't bother me, am I not a Superior Man?"

「巧言令色，鮮矣仁！」

Translation: "Someone who is a clever speaker and maintains a 'too-smiley' face is seldom considered a humane person."

「道千乘之國，敬事而信，節用而愛人，使民以時。」

Translation: "If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people. You should use them according to the seasons."

「弟子，入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，凡愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。」

Translation: "A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all, but become intimate with humaneness. After doing this, if he has energy to spare, he can study literature and the arts."

「君子不重，則不威；學則不固。主忠信。无友不如己者。國，則勿憚改。」

Translation: "If the Superior Man is not serious, then he will not inspire awe in others. If he is not learned, then he will not be on firm ground. He takes loyalty and good faith to be of primary importance, and has no friends who are not of equal (moral) caliber. When he makes a mistake, he doesn't hesitate to correct it."

「父在，觀其志；父殁，觀其行；三年无改於父之道，可謂孝矣。」

Translation: "When your father is alive, observe his will. When your father is dead observe his former actions. If, for three years you do not change from the ways of your father, you can be called a 'real son (xiào/hsiao)'."

「君子食无求飽，居无求安，敏於事而慎於言，就有道而正焉，可謂好學也已。」

Translation: "When the Superior Man eats he does not try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech. He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, 'he loves learning.'"

「不患人之不己之，患不知人也。」

Translation: "I am not bothered by the fact that I am unknown. I am bothered when I do not know others."

「吾十有五而志於學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。」

Translation: "At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the mandate of heaven; at sixty my ear was obedient; at seventy I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing the norm."

「視其所以，觀其所由，察其所安。人焉叟哉？人焉叟哉？」

Translation: "See a person's means (of getting things). Observe his motives. Examine that in which he rests. How can a person conceal his character? How can a person conceal his character?"