The Master said, "The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way which is not accordant with right, he will not be pleased. But in his employment of men, he uses them according to their capacity.

23. THE DIFFERENT MANNERS OF THE SUPERIOR AND THE MEAN MAN. Comp. II. 14, but here the parties are contrasted in their more private intercourse with others. 同, 'agreeing with', =flattering.

24. HOW, TO JUDGE OF A MAN FROM THE LIKINGS AND DISLIKINGS OF OTHERS, WE MUST KNOW THE CHARACTERS OF THOSE OTHERS. 未可,—lit., 'not yet may'. The general mean. of a Chin. sentence is often plain, and yet we are puzzled to supply exactly the subjects, auxiliaries, &c., which other languages require. In rendering the phrase, I have followed many of the paraphrasts, who complete it thus:—未可信其为贤也, and 未可信其为恶也. In the 注疏, however, the second occurrence of it is expanded in the same way as the first.

25. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SUPERIOR AND THE MEAN MAN IN THEIR RELATION TO THOSE EMPLOYED BY THEM. 易事而难说(= 悦),—as in the transl., or we may render,—'is easily served, but is pleased with difficulty'. 器之,—see II. 12, 器 being here a verb. 求备, is the opposite of 器之, and=以全材责备一人身上, 'he requires all capabilities from a single man'.

The mean man is difficult to serve, and easy to please. If you try to please him, though it be in a way which is not accordant with right, he may be pleased. But in his employment of men, he wishes them to be equal to everything."