Confucian Analects · Analects 1.15
1. Tsze-kung said, 'What do you pronounce concerning the poor man who yet does not flatter, and the rich man who is not proud?' The Master replied, 'They will do; but they are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful, and to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety.' 2. Tsze-kung replied, 'It is said in the Book of Poetry, "As you cut and then file, as you carve and then polish."-- The meaning is the same, I apprehend, as that which you have just expressed.' 3. The Master said, 'With one like Ts'ze, I can begin to talk about the odes. I told him one point, and he knew its proper sequence.'
Chinese · source text【十五章】【一節】子貢曰貧、而無諂、富而無驕、何如。子曰、可也、未若貧而樂、富而好禮者也。【二節】子貢曰、詩云、如切如磋、如琢如磨、其斯之謂與。【三節】子曰、賜也、始可與言詩已矣、告諸往而知來者。
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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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