Confucian Analects · Analects 9.22
The Master said, 'A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present? If he reach the age of forty or fifty, and has not made himself heard of, then indeed he will not be worth being regarded with respect.'
Chinese · source text【廿二章】子曰、後生可畏、焉知來者之不如今也、四十五十而無聞焉、斯亦不足畏也已。
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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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