Confucian Analects · Analects 7.25
1. The Master said, 'A sage it is not mine to see; could I see a man of real talent and virtue, that would satisfy me.' 2. The Master said, 'A good man it is not mine to see; could I see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me. 3. 'Having not and yet affecting to have, empty and yet affecting to be full, straitened and yet affecting to be at ease:-- it is difficult with such characteristics to have constancy.'
Chinese · source text【廿五章】【一節】子曰、聖人吾不得而見之矣、得見君子者、斯可矣。【二節】子曰、善人吾不得而見之矣、得見有恆者、斯可矣。【三節】亡而為有、虛而為盈、約而為泰、難乎有恆矣。
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Confucius · English translation by James Legge · bilingual transcription
James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Volume 1: Confucian Analects · Project Gutenberg #4094
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