Page:The sayings of Confucius; a new translation of the greater part of the Confucian analects (IA sayingsofconfuci00confiala).pdf/50

 by which a country might be made to flourish. Confucius answered: No single sentence can be expected to have such a virtue as this. But there is the common saying: "To be a good king is difficult; to be a good minister is not easy." He who realises the difficulty of being a good king—has he not almost succeeded in making his country prosper by a single sentence?—Is there a single sentence, continued the Duke, by which a country can be ruined?—Confucius answered No such power can reside in any single sentence. But there is a saying:

"I have no joy in kingly rule, I rejoice only because none can oppose my will." Now if the king's will is good, and none opposes it, all may be well; but if it is not good, and yet none opposes it, has he not almost succeeded in ruining his country be a single sentence?

The Duke of Shê asked about the conditions