“1. Tsze-kung said, 'Suppose the case of a man extensively conferring benefits on the people, and able to assist all, what would you say of him? Might he be called perfectly virtuous?' The Master said, 'Why speak only of virtue in connexion with him? Must he not have the qualities of a sage? Even Yao and Shun were still solicitous about this. 2. 'Now the man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. 3. 'To be able to judge of others by what is nigh in ourselves;-- this may be called the art of virtue.'”
Analects 6:28 · Legge
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.
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Christian comparison
How this connects to Jesus
This is Confucius on ren, true humaneness: the person of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, seeks also to enlarge others. Jesus taught his followers to count others more significant than themselves (Philippians 2:3-4), and gave himself entirely for our sake. Where Confucius points to a noble ideal, the Gospel shows God living it out first, for us.