"he managed his
household matters well. On his coming into possession, he thought, 'What
a strange conglomeration!'--Coming to possess a little more, it was,
'Strange, such a result!' And when he became wealthy, 'Strange, such
elegance!'"

The Master was on a journey to Wei, and Yen Yu was driving him. "What
multitudes of people!" he exclaimed. Yen Yu asked him, "Seeing they are
so numerous, what more would you do for them?"

"Enrich them," replied the Master.

"And after enriching them, what more would you do for them?"

"Instruct them."

"Were any one of our princes to employ me," he said, "after a
twelvemonth I might have made some tolerable progress;"

Again, "How true is that saying, 'Let good men have the management of a
country for a century, and they would be adequate to cope with
evil-doers, and thus do away with capital punishments,'"

Again, "Suppose the ruler to possess true kingly qualities, then surely
after one generation there would be good-will among men."

Again, "Let a ruler but see to his own rectitude, and what trouble will
he then have in the work before him? If he be unable to rectify himself,
how is he to rectify others?"

Once when Yen Yu was leaving the Court, the Master accosted him. "Why so
late?" he asked. "Busy with legislation," Yen replied. "The details of
it," suggested the Master; "had it been legislation, I should have been
there to hear it, even though I am not in office."

Duke Ting asked if there were one sentence which, if acted upon, might
have the effect of making a country prosperous.

Confucius answered, "A sentence could hardly be supposed to do so much
as that. But there is a proverb people use which says, 'To play the
prince is hard, to play the minister not easy.' Assuming that it is
understood that 'to play the prince is hard,' would it not be probable
that with that one sentence the country should be made to prosper?"

"Is there, then," he asked, "one sentence which, if acted upon, would
have the effect of ruining a country?"

Confucius again replied, "A sentence could hardly be supposed to do so
much as that. But there is a proverb men have which says, 'Not gladly
would I play the prince, unless my words were ne'er withstood.' Assuming
that the words were good, and that none withstood them, would not that
also be good? But assuming that they were not good, and yet none
withstood them, would it not be probable that with that one saying he
would work his c