Analects 15:2. Confucius said, "Tz'u (Tzu-kung), do you suppose that I am one who learns a great deal and remembers it?" Tzu-kung replied, "Yes. Is that not true?" Confucius said, "No. I have a thread (i-kuan) that runs through it all."

Analects 15:4. Confucius said, "To have taken no [unnatural] action and yet have the empire well governed, Shun was the man! What did he do? All he did was to make himself reverent and correctly face south [in his royal seat as the ruler]."

Analects 15:8. Confucius said, "A resolute scholar and a man of humanity will never seek to live at the expense of injuring humanity. He would rather sacrifice his life in order to realize humanity."

Analects 15:17. Confucius said, "The superior man regards righteousness (i) as the substance of everything. He practices it according to the principles of propriety. He brings it forth in modesty. And he carries it to its conclusion with faithfulness. He is indeed a superior man!"

Analects 15:20. Confucius said, "The superior man seeks [room for improvement or occasion to blame] in himself; the inferior man seeks it in others."

Analects 15:22. Confucius said, "The superior man (ruler) does not promote (put in office) a man on the basis of his words; nor does he reject his words because of the man."

Analects 15:23. Tzu-kung asked, "Is there one word which can serve as the guiding principle for conduct throughout life?" Confucius said, "It is the word altruism (shu). Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you."

Analects 15:28. Confucius said, "It is man that can make the Way great, and not the Way that can make man great."

Analects 15:31. Confucius said, "The superior man seeks the Way and not a mere living. There may be starvation in farming, and there may be riches in the pursuit of studies. The superior man worries about the Way and not about the poverty."

Analects 15:32. Confucius said, "When a man's knowledge is sufficient for him to attain [his position] but his humanity is not sufficient for him to hold it, he will lose it again. When his knowledge is sufficient for him to attain it and his humanity is sufficient for him to hold it, if he does not approach the people with dignity, the people will not respect him. If his knowledge is sufficient for him to attain it, his humility sufficient for him to hold it, and he approaches the people with dignity, yet does not influence them with the principle of propriety, it is still not good."

Analects 15:35. Confucius said, "When it comes to the practice of humanity, one should not defer even to his teacher."

Analects 15:38. Confucius said, "In education there should be no class distinction."

Analects 15:40. Confucius said, "In words all that matters is to express the meaning."