All the things and the kinds that come about
surely have a point from which they start out.
Honor or disgrace that comes unto you
surely reflects your degree of virtue.
In rotten meat bugs are generated.
In fish that's spoiled maggots are created.
Lazy, haughty men who forget their place
shall have misfortune and ruin to face.
Rigid things get themselves used for bracing.
Pliant things get themselves used for lacing.
If with corruption your person is filled,
It's this upon which hate toward you will build.
If you accumulate enough goodness to achieve virtue, then you will naturally attain to spirit-like powers and enlightenment, and the heart of a sage is complete therein. And so,
Without accumulating tiny steps,
you have no way to go a thousand li.
Without accumulating little streams,
you have no way to form river or sea.
Let the horse Qi ji take a single li;
it still would go no further than ten strides.
Yet old nags ridden ten days equal him;
not giving up is where success resides.
"If you start carving and giving up, you will not be able to break even rotten wood, but if you start carving and do not give up, then you can engrave even metal and stone."
If you do not first have somber intention,
no brilliant understanding can there be.
If you do not first have determined effort,
no glorious achievements will you see.
One walking both forks of a road goes nowhere.
One serving two lords is not viewed welcomely.
Eyes focused on two on two things at once don't hear clearly.
Thought footless, the teng snake moves quick as flying,
yet five limbs give the wu rodent no safety.
The Odes say:
The Shi'jiu bird is on the mulberry
seven is the number of its offspring.
As for the noble man and gentleman,
their standard is one and unwavering.
Their standard is one and unwavering
like their hearts were tied to it by binding.
Thus is the gentleman bound to one thing.
"There is no sound so small as not to be heard. There is no action so subtle as not to be manifest."
"If you do good, will it not accumulate?"
surely have a point from which they start out.
Honor or disgrace that comes unto you
surely reflects your degree of virtue.
In rotten meat bugs are generated.
In fish that's spoiled maggots are created.
Lazy, haughty men who forget their place
shall have misfortune and ruin to face.
Rigid things get themselves used for bracing.
Pliant things get themselves used for lacing.
If with corruption your person is filled,
It's this upon which hate toward you will build.
If you accumulate enough goodness to achieve virtue, then you will naturally attain to spirit-like powers and enlightenment, and the heart of a sage is complete therein. And so,
Without accumulating tiny steps,
you have no way to go a thousand li.
Without accumulating little streams,
you have no way to form river or sea.
Let the horse Qi ji take a single li;
it still would go no further than ten strides.
Yet old nags ridden ten days equal him;
not giving up is where success resides.
"If you start carving and giving up, you will not be able to break even rotten wood, but if you start carving and do not give up, then you can engrave even metal and stone."
If you do not first have somber intention,
no brilliant understanding can there be.
If you do not first have determined effort,
no glorious achievements will you see.
One walking both forks of a road goes nowhere.
One serving two lords is not viewed welcomely.
Eyes focused on two on two things at once don't hear clearly.
Thought footless, the teng snake moves quick as flying,
yet five limbs give the wu rodent no safety.
The Odes say:
The Shi'jiu bird is on the mulberry
seven is the number of its offspring.
As for the noble man and gentleman,
their standard is one and unwavering.
Their standard is one and unwavering
like their hearts were tied to it by binding.
Thus is the gentleman bound to one thing.
"There is no sound so small as not to be heard. There is no action so subtle as not to be manifest."
"If you do good, will it not accumulate?"
