"When an inferior man does a wrong thing, he is sure to gloss it over.
"The superior man is seen in three different aspects:--look at him from
a distance, he is imposing in appearance; approach him, he is gentle and
warm-hearted; hear him speak, he is acute and strict.
"Let such a man have the people's confidence, and he will get much work
out of them; so long, however, as he does not possess their confidence
they will regard him as grinding them down.
"When confidence is reposed in him, he may then with impunity administer
reproof; so long as it is not, he will be regarded as a detractor.
"Where there is no over-stepping of barriers in the practice of the
higher virtues, there may be freedom to pass in and out in the practice
of the lower ones."
Tsz-yu had said, "The pupils in the school of Tsz-hia are good enough at
such things as sprinkling and scrubbing floors, answering calls and
replying to questions from superiors, and advancing and retiring to and
from such; but these things are only offshoots--as to the root of things
they are nowhere. What is the use of all that?"
When this came to the ears of Tsz-hia, he said, "Ah! there he is
mistaken. What does a master, in his methods of teaching, consider first
in his precepts? And what does he account next, as that about which he
may be indifferent? It is like as in the study of plants--classification
by _differentiae_.
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