Confucius said: "A gentleman does not want to eat enough, and he does not want to live in peace. If he is sensitive to things and is careful about what he says, he will know how to be honest, and he will be eager to learn."
translation
Confucius said: "A gentleman does not want to eat enough, to live in peace, to be diligent, to be careful what he says, to learn the right way, and to correct the wrong is to be eager to learn."
explain
"gentleman", which refers to a virtuous person here.
"security" means ease and happiness.
"Min" should be interpreted as "diligence" here. Examples are like "Humanism and Sensitive Politics" in The Doctrine of the Mean. Some people also interpret "sensitivity" as "rapidity", which is not followed today.
"caution", caution.
"just", from also. It means to approach and follow.
"Youdao" refers to a person with moral knowledge.
"positive", rectification and correction.
Comment
A gentleman is a man who is ambitious and eager to learn. "A gentleman can't eat enough and live in peace" is not because he can't "eat enough" and "live in peace". Guangsha cuisine is what people like, but what a gentleman likes is more than a eater. Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius, is such a studious person. Confucius once praised: "xian zai, hui ye!" One scoop of food, one scoop of drink, in the mean lane, people can't bear their worries, and they don't change their fun when they go back. Xian zai, come back! "
there is a slight difference between "being sensitive to things" and "respecting things". From the perspective of diligence, the relationship between the two is roughly equivalent to "respect = caution+sensitivity". "Diligence" is neither rapid nor slow. It depends on the actual situation, when it is fast, it is fast, and when it is slow, it is slow. Therefore, "sensitivity" should be interpreted as "diligence" instead of "quickness" here. Because this chapter is about learning, and learning focuses more on diligence, we use "sensitivity" instead of "respect".
People's words and actions have consequences, and people must be responsible for their words and actions. Therefore, Confucianism advocates caution in words and deeds, so as not to make speech acts unnatural.
you should not be complacent about your studies. Therefore, it is necessary to learn from others and make up for their own shortcomings. You can learn from others and correct your words and deeds. This is easy to learn.
A gentleman is eager to learn and enjoys it, so much so that he can "eat without satiety and live without security". It can be seen that spiritual enrichment is far from being comparable to material satisfaction. This also puts forward a question worthy of consideration for us modern people: what should be the most important pursuit of mankind?