The Arizona sentinel., 1886-05-29
GEMS FROM CONFUCIUS.
Some of the Wise and Filthy Sayings of the
 Famous Philosopher.

Some of the Wise and Filthy Sayings of the
 Famous Philosopher.
 His discrimination of character is am- ply illustrated in the many wise and | pithy sayings which he has bequeathed to us, few of which we have grouped together, as combining his ideal of how man should behave in different posi- tions of life. Thus, he tells us how "a poor man who does not fiatter, and a rich man who is not proud, are passable characters; but they are not equal to the poor who yet are cheerful, and the rich who yet love the rules of propriety." :" GA good man in his conduct of himself is humble, in serving his superiors he is respectful, in nourishing the people he is kind, in ordering the people he is just" Again, man ''is to think of virtue, and not of comfort; of the sane tions of law, not of qualification !" And ''what the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man thinks is in others" He was firmly convinced of its being more or less in the power of every man to acquire knowledge, and thereby wisdom. Hence, as Dr. Legge tells us in his Life of Confucius," this house became resort for young and inquiring spirits who wished to learn the doctrines of antiquity. However small the fee his pupils were able to afford, he never refused his instructions. All that he required was an ardent de- sire for improvement and some degree of fn h words: Il do not open up truth to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor keep out one who is not anxious to eX- plain himself" By stimulating youth to study, he endeavored to create an in- structed public opinion which should display an admiration for truth and goodness. That the same love of truth pervaded all his sentiments is exemplitied by remark he one day made. Shall teach you what knowl- edge is?'' said he. "When you know thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to al- low that you do not know it; this is knowledge" His definition of hypo- critics reminds us of their comparison to whited sepulchers in the New Testa-
 
 words and an humble countenance when there is little virtue" But lastly, it has often been urged that Confuci us, in spite of his wisdom and the loftiness of his teaching, had nothing to say about God or a future life. He pre- ferred, however, to speak of Heaven as in the following instances: He who of fends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray" and ''Alasr' said he, ''there is no one that knows me-" But his friends replied: ''What do you mean by thus saying that no one knows yOu?" He answered: ''I do not mur, mur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men. But there is Heaven that knows me-" Indeed, it has been truly said that he was unreligious rather than irreligious. And if he had not knowl- edge of divine ruler it was his mis- fortune, and arose from no desire to disparage religious belief of any kind In short. as MT. Clodd remarks, his emitting to speak about God twas not because he was an unbeliever-for he, of all men, had reverence for the sacred unknown power that underlies all things-but because his nature was so beautifully simple and sincere that he would not pretend to knowledge of that which he felt was beyond human reach and thought" But, nevertheless, one can not but regret that his teaching was not more distinctive in this respect, especially as it was destined to be such a mighty motive power in molding the Chinese character ofuntold generations. IT Q. ThjseltOn Dyer, in The Cutter.