Though in making a mound I should stop when but one more basketful of earth would complete it, the fact remains that I _have_ stopped. On the other hand, if in levelling it to the ground I advance my work by but one basketful at a time, the fact remains that I _am_ advancing.[15] Alas! there are sprouting crops which never come into ear. There are others which, having come into ear, never ripen into grain. We ought to have a wholesome respect for our juniors. Who knows but that by-and-by they may prove themselves equal to the men of to-day? It is only when they reach the age of forty or fifty without distinguishing themselves that we need no longer be afraid of them. Words of just admonition cannot fail to command a ready assent. But practical reformation is the thing that really matters. Words of kindly advice cannot fail to please the listener. But subsequent meditation on them is the thing that really matters. I can make nothing of the man who is pleased with advice but will not meditate on it, who assents to admonition but does not reform. A great army may be robbed of its leader, but nothing can rob one poor man of his will. It is only when the cold season comes that we know the pine and cypress to be evergreens.[16] Let a pupil join with you in self-cultivation before you let him approach the general truths of philosophy, but let him approach these general truths before he is allowed to form his character for good. He should have formed his character for good before he is allowed to make exceptions to a general rule. When Yen Yüan died, the Master said: Alas! God has forsaken me, God has forsaken me! On the death of Yen Yüan, the disciples wanted to give him a sumptuous funeral, but the Master said, Better not.[17] Nevertheless, the disciples did give him a sumptuous funeral, whereupon the Master said: Hui looked upon me as his father, yet I have not been able to treat him as my son. The fault is not in me, but in you, my disciples. Chi Lu inquired concerning men's duty to spirits. The Master replied: Before we are able to do our duty by the living, how can we do it by the spirits of the dead?--Chi Lu went on to inquire about death. The Master said: Before we know what life is, how can we know what death is? Tzŭ Chang asked a question about clearness of mental vision. The Master said: He whose mind is proof against the slow-soaking poison of slander and the sharp stings of calumny, may be called clear-sighted, and far-seeing as well. The Master said: A man may know the three hundred odes by heart, but if he proves himself incapable when given a post in the government, or cannot make a speech unaided when sent on a foreign mission, of what use to him is all his learning?