Book I 15

1 Tsze-kung said, ‘What do you pronounce concerning the poor man who yet does not flatter, and the rich man who is not proud?’ The Master replied, ‘They will do; but they are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful, and to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety.’

2 Tsze-kung replied, ‘It is said in the Book of Poetry, “As you cut and then file, as you carve and then polish.”— The meaning is the same, I apprehend, as that which you have just expressed.’

3 The Master said, ‘With one like Ts’ze, I can begin to talk about the odes. I told him one point, and he knew its proper sequence.’