Sacred Text · The Analects
The Analects 15:20
Book 15, chapter 20 · the sayings of Confucius
Translation: James Legge, The Chinese Classics: Confucian Analects (1861, revised 1893), public domain, via Project Gutenberg (ebook 3330). Reproduced in full and in context; the sayings 15:23 (the negative Golden Rule), 6:28 (ren), 4:15 (the one thread) and 2:4 (the stages of life) were validated against the source before publishing. References follow Legge’s standard book:chapter numbering.
How this connects to Jesus
What the superior person seeks is in himself; what the small person seeks is in others, said Confucius, prizing an honesty that looks first inward. Jesus taught the same searching inwardness: first take the log out of your own eye (Matthew 7:5). The Gospel then offers what the self cannot supply on its own, a new heart, given by God.
Explore: The superior personWhy Jesus?Read the Gospel