This item is
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Publicly Available
and licensed under:Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Files for this item
- Name
- mean-2058.txt
- Size
- 37.22 KB
- Format
- Text file
- Description
- Version of the work in plain text format
500 BC
THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN
Confucius
What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with
this nature is called The Path of duty; the regulation of this path is
called Instruction.
The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it
would not be the path. On this account, the superior man does not wait
till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be
apprehensive.
There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing
more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the superior man is
watchful over himself, when he is alone.
While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the
mind may be said to be in the state of Equilibrium. When those
feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there
ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is
the great root from which grow all . . .
