Chinese and Arabian Literature - E. Wilson - The Search For Mecca

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THE ANALECTS 35
ambition ? " said he. " All that I can well be called is this
— ;
An insatiable student, an unwearied teacher ;—this, and no
more." — " Exactly what we, your disciples, cannot by any
learning manage to be," said Kung-si Hwa.
Once when the Master was seriously ill, Tsz-lu requested to
be allowed to say prayers for him. "Are such available?"
asked the Master. " Yes," said he ; " and the Manual of
Prayers says, ' Pray to the spirits above and to those here
below.'
" My praying has been going on a long while," said the
Master.
" Lavish living," he said, " renders men disorderly ; miserli-
ness makes them hard. Better, however, the hard than the
disorderly."
Again, " The man of superior mind is placidly composed
the small-minded man is in a constant state of perturbation."
The Master was gentle, yet could be severe ; had an overawing
presence, yet was not violent ; was deferential, yet easy.