'Act as from a sense of danger,
With precaution and with care,
As a yawning gulf o'erlooking,
As on ice that scarce will bear,'

At all times, my children, I know how to keep myself free from bodily
harm."

Again, during an illness of his, Mang King, an official, went to ask
after him. The Scholar had some conversation with him, in the course of
which he said--

"'Doleful the cries of a dying bird,
Good the last words of a dying man,'

There are three points which a man of rank in the management of his
duties should set store upon:--A lively manner and deportment, banishing
both severity and laxity; a frank and open expression of countenance,
allied closely with sincerity; and a tone in his utterances utterly free
from any approach to vulgarity and impropriety. As to matters of bowls
and dishes, leave such things to those who are charged with the care of
them."

Another saying of the Scholar Tsang: "I once had a friend who, though he
possessed ability, would go questioning men of none, and, though
surrounded by numbers, would go with his questions to isolated
individuals; who also, whatever he might have, appeared as if he were
without it, and, with all his substantial acquirements, made as though
his mind were a mere blank; and when insulted would not retaliate;--this
was ever his way."