Confucian Analects · Analects 17.12
The Master said, 'He who puts on an appearance of stern firmness, while inwardly he is weak, is like one of the small, mean people;-- yea, is he not like the thief who breaks through, or climbs over, a wall?'
Chinese · source text【十二章】子曰、色厲而內荏、譬諸小人、其猶穿窬之盜也與。
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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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