Analects 8.11 · Tai Bo
“Even with talents as splendid as those of the Duke of Zhou, if a person is arrogant and stingy, the rest is not worth looking at.”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
如有周公之才之美 使驕且吝 其餘不足觀也已 (rú yǒu zhōu gōng zhī cái zhī měi, shǐ jiāo qiě lìn, qí yú bù zú guān yě yǐ) means “Even with talents as splendid as those of the Duke of Zhou, if a person is arrogant and stingy, the rest is not worth looking at.” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 8 (Tai Bo), Chapter 11.
如有周公之才之美 使驕且吝 其餘不足觀也已
- Pinyin
- rú yǒu zhōu gōng zhī cái zhī měi, shǐ jiāo qiě lìn, qí yú bù zú guān yě yǐ
- Translation
- Even with talents as splendid as those of the Duke of Zhou, if a person is arrogant and stingy, the rest is not worth looking at.
- Source
- Analects, Book 8 (Tai Bo), Chapter 11
What does this passage mean?
This passage comes from the eleventh chapter of Tai Bo. The Duke of Zhou established the institutions of the Zhou dynasty and was, for Confucius, the supreme model of talent joined with virtue. Confucius says that even someone with talents as splendid as the Duke of Zhou’s would not be worth looking at if arrogant and stingy. Arrogance is the sickness of exalting oneself; stinginess is the sickness of being unable to give to others; Zhu Xi saw the two as inside and outside of one another. However great the talent, if the person who holds it is flawed, the talent becomes a source of harm.
How can we apply it today?
There are people who are highly capable and yet nobody wants to work with them. They show off their results, refuse to credit others, keep what they know to themselves, and never develop those below them. Confucius’s diagnosis is exact: such a person’s talent drains the people around them rather than helping the organization. Conversely, people gather around someone a little less talented who is humble and generous, and that person’s talent grows over time. Guarding against arrogance and stinginess in the same measure as one builds skill is how talent is made to last.
Questions to reflect on
- ·As your talents grow, are you becoming humbler or more arrogant?
- ·Are you stingy about sharing what you know and what you have?
- ·Have you seen a capable person driven away by their own character?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 如 | rú | same; like | 6 | 女 (woman) |
| 有 | yǒu | exist | 6 | 月 (moon) |
| 周 | zhōu | Zhou (dynasty) | 8 | 口 (mouth) |
| 公 | gōng | duke | 4 | 八 (eight) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 才 | cái | talent | 3 | 手 (hand) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 美 | měi | beautiful | 9 | 羊 (sheep) |
| 使 | shǐ | cause | 8 | 人 (person) |
| 驕 | jiāo | arrogant | 22 | 馬 (horse) |
| 且 | qiě | again | 5 | 一 (one) |
| 吝 | lìn | stingy | 7 | 口 (mouth) |
| 其 | qí | that; he | 8 | 八 (eight) |
| 餘 | yú | remainder | 16 | 食 (eat) |
| 不 | bù | not | 4 | 一 (one) |
| 足 | zú | foot; sufficient | 7 | 足 (foot) |
| 觀 | guān | see | 25 | 見 (see) |
| 也 | yě | grammatical particle | 3 | 乙 (second) |
| 已 | yǐ | already | 3 | 己 (self) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “Even with talents as splendid as those of…” mean?
如有周公之才之美 使驕且吝 其餘不足觀也已 (rú yǒu zhōu gōng zhī cái zhī měi, shǐ jiāo qiě lìn, qí yú bù zú guān yě yǐ) means “Even with talents as splendid as those of the Duke of Zhou, if a person is arrogant and stingy, the rest is not worth looking at.” It comes from the Analects, Book 8 (Tai Bo), Chapter 11.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 8.11: Book 8 (Tai Bo), Chapter 11.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
There are people who are highly capable and yet nobody wants to work with them.