Yu, shall I tell you what true knowledge is? When you know, to know that you know, and when you do not know, to know that you do not know--that is true knowledge. Tzŭ Chang was studying with a view to official preferment. The Master said to him: Among the various things you hear said, reserve your judgment on those which seem doubtful, and give cautious utterance to the rest: then you will seldom fall into error. Among the various things you see done, set aside those which seem dangerous, and cautiously put the others into practice: then you will seldom have occasion for repentance. If you seldom err in your speech, and seldom have to repent of your actions, official preferment will come of itself. The Master said: I do not see how a man without sincerity can be good for anything. How can a cart or carriage be made to go without yoke or cross-bar? To sacrifice to a spirit with which you have nothing to do, is mere servility. To shirk your duty when you see it before you, shows want of moral courage. Some one inquired as to the meaning of the Great Sacrifice. The Master said: I do not know. He who knew its meaning would find it as easy to govern the Empire as to look upon this (pointing to his palm).[3] Wang-sun Chia[4] asked, saying: What means the adage, "Better be civil to the kitchen-god than to the god of the inner sanctum"?--The Master replied: The adage is false. He who sins against Heaven can rely on the intercession of none. The Master said: He who serves his prince with all the proper ceremony will be accounted by men a flatterer. It is bootless to discuss accomplished facts, to protest against things past remedy, to find fault with things bygone. How am I to regard one who has rank without liberality, who performs ceremonies without reverence, who approaches the rites of mourning without sorrow? Men's faults are characteristic.[5] It is by observing a man's faults that one may come to know his virtues. Having heard the True Way in the morning what matters it if one should come to die at night? The scholar who is bent on studying the principles of virtue, yet is ashamed of bad clothes and coarse food, is not yet fit to receive instruction. Instead of being concerned that you have no office, be concerned to think how you may fit yourself for office. Instead of being concerned that you are not known, seek to be worthy of being known. When you see a good man, think of emulating him; when you see a bad man, examine your own heart. The ancients hesitated to give their thoughts utterance: they were afraid that their actions might not be equal to their words. Few are those who err on the side of self-restraint.[6] Virtue cannot live in solitude: neighbours are sure to grow up around it.[7] Chi Wên Tzŭ[8] used to reflect thrice before he acted. When told of this, the Master said: Twice would do. The Master said: Alas! I have never met a man who could see his own faults and arraign himself at the bar of his own conscience.