Confucian Analects · Analects 19.4
Tsze-hsia said, 'Even in inferior studies and employments there is something worth being looked at; but if it be attempted to carry them out to what is remote, there is a danger of their proving inapplicable. Therefore, the superior man does not practise them.'
Chinese · source text【第四章】子夏曰、雖小道、必有可觀者焉、致遠恐泥、是以君子不為也。
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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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