Analects, book 4 · 15 of 26 chaptersLi ren (Book 4)

Each chapter gives the source text, the key words in the commentary, what other commentators say, and Yikonglu's reading, with the video.

1. 4.1Living among the humane is beautifulChoose the wrong place to live and what you lose is not the house but the heart that tells right from wrong
2. 4.2The inhumane cannot long endure hardshipLong hardship makes people overstep, long pleasure makes them indulge; whether outside things can take a person away depends on whether the original heart is there
3. 4.3Only the humane can love and hate othersEveryone can like and dislike; the “can” lies in doing it rightly, which requires a heart that is not tied to anything
4. 4.4Set your heart on humaneness and there is no evilResolve does not guarantee no mistakes; it guarantees no intention to do wrong
5. 4.5Wealth and rank are what people wantDo not take wealth that should not come, and do not dodge an undeserved poverty by crooked means; the big choices and the small daily work make each other
6. 4.6I have not seen one who loves humanenessWhere the heart goes, the strength goes; the hard part is not strength but willingness
7. 4.7People's faults each follow their kindWhether a fault leans too generous or too mean shows whether one is humane
8. 4.8Hear the Way in the morning, die content at duskThe hard part is not hearing, but still believing after one has heard. Life and death are the great matter; without something truly gained in the heart, no one can say “I may die at dusk.” Today: an old man in a hospital bed finally sees through what he never understood in a lifetime, takes his daughter's hand and says, “Now I am at peace.”
9. 4.9A scholar set on the Way who is ashamed of poor clothesThe mouth says the heart is set on the Way, but the heart is ordered about by things outside. The problem is not dressing poorly; it is treating poor dress as a shame
10. 4.10No fixed yes, no fixed no; side with what is rightDo not decide in advance and do not refuse in advance; look only at whether it accords with what is right. “Nothing allowed, nothing forbidden” without rightness in charge is mere recklessness
11. 4.11The gentleman cherishes virtue, the petty man his comfort“Cherishing one's ground” is not homesickness; it is a heart that guards only its own little comfort. The whole difference between gentleman and petty man lies between public and private
12. 4.12Act by what profits you, and resentment multipliesThe resentment does not come from the word “profit”; it comes from profiting only oneself
13. 4.13Can one govern a state with ritual and yielding?Yielding is the lining inside ritual. When only the outward form is left, ritual itself no longer works, never mind governing a state
14. 4.14Worry not about having no post, but about what you stand onIt is not about finding ways to be noticed; it is about first having the substance worth noticing. Whether a post is given, whether others know you, is not in your hands
15. 4.15My Way is threaded through by one“Loyalty and reciprocity” do not say the Way in full; they hand the learner something to hold. “Threaded through by one” is said only to the one who is ready to understand it
16. 4.16君子喻于义not yet covered子曰：君子喻于义，小人喻于利。
17. 4.17见贤思齐焉not yet covered子曰：见贤思齐焉，见不贤而内自省也。
18. 4.18事父母几谏not yet covered子曰：事父母几谏。见志不从，又敬不违，劳而不怨。
19. 4.19父母在not yet covered子曰：父母在，不远游。游必有方。
20. 4.20三年无改于父之道not yet covered子曰：三年无改于父之道，可谓孝矣。
21. 4.21父母之年not yet covered子曰：父母之年，不可不知也。一则以喜，一则以惧。
22. 4.22古者言之不出not yet covered子曰：古者言之不出，耻躬之不逮也。
23. 4.23以约失之者鲜矣not yet covered子曰：以约失之者鲜矣。
24. 4.24君子欲讷于言而敏于行not yet covered子曰：君子欲讷于言而敏于行。
25. 4.25德不孤not yet covered子曰：德不孤，必有邻。
26. 4.26子游曰not yet covered子游曰：事君数，斯辱矣，朋友数，斯疏矣。