Once when the Master had had an interview with Nan-tsz, which had
scandalized his disciple Tsz-lu, he uttered the solemn adjuration, "If I
have done aught amiss, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!"

"How far-reaching," said he, "is the moral excellence that flows from
the Constant Mean! [15] It has for a long time been rare among the
people."

Tsz-kung said, "Suppose the case of one who confers benefits far and
wide upon the people, and who can, in so doing, make his bounty
universally felt--how would you speak of him? Might he be called
philanthropic?"

The Master exclaimed, "What a work for philanthropy! He would require
indeed to be a sage! He would put into shade even Yau and Shun!--Well, a
philanthropic person, desiring for himself a firm footing, is led on to
give one to others; desiring for himself an enlightened perception of
things, he is led on to help others to be similarly enlightened. If one
could take an illustration coming closer home to us than yours, that
might be made the starting-point for speaking about philanthropy."


[Footnote 14: At this time Confucius was Criminal Judge in his native
State of Lu. Yuen Sz had been a disciple. The commentators add that this
was the officer's proper salary, and that he did wrong to refuse it.]

[Footnote 15: The doctrine afterwards known by that name, and which gave
its title to a Confucian treatise.]