[21] These numerical categories are hardly more than a conventional form into which the Chinese are fond of throwing ethical and other teaching. Needless to say, they are not to be considered as exhaustive. [22] Confucius, as we have seen (p. 86), puts himself in this second class. [23] The difference lies in the _set purpose_ of studying virtue in a systematic way, and not merely doing right when occasion offers. [24] "The will to learn" is a necessarily vague rendering of the equally vague original. It means here a desire for moral culture, which is nothing else than the development of that inner sense of harmony and proportion (_li_) referred to on p. 99. Good instincts, according to Confucius, are not enough to produce virtues, unless they are supplemented by careful cultivation of this moral sense. [25] A magnificent array of vestments and chalices will no more constitute a true ceremony than a number of musical instruments alone, without the brain of a composer, can produce music. The whole value of a ceremony is determined by the state of mind of the person who performs it. PERSONALIA In his moments of leisure, the Master's manner was uniformly cheerful and smiling. If the Master happened to be dining beside one who was in mourning for his parents, he never ate a full meal. He never sang on any day in the course of which he had been bewailing a death. The Master would never talk about prodigies, feats of strength, crime, or supernatural beings.[1] The Master made four things the subject of his teaching: a knowledge of literature and the arts, conduct, conscientiousness and truthfulness.[2] The Master fished with a line but not with a net. When he went out with bow and arrow, he only shot at birds on the wing. If the Master happened to be with singers, and they sang a piece well, he would get them to repeat it, when he would also join in the song himself. The Master was affable, yet grave; stern, but not fierce; attentive in his behaviour, and yet calm. The Master seldom spoke of money-making, of the laws of Providence, or of moral virtue.[3] There were four words of which the Master barred the use: he would have no "shall's," no "must's," no "certainly's," no "I's".[4] Whenever the Master saw a person in mourning, or in official robes, or one who was blind, he would at once rise from his seat, even though the other were his junior; or if he passed them in the street, he would quicken his step.[5]