【原文】

子曰：〝譬如為山，未成一簣，止，吾止也。譬如平地，雖覆一簣，進，吾往也。〞

【參考譯文】

孔子說：〝好比用土堆山，只差一筐土就堆成了，如果停下來，山就堆不出來了。又好比用土填坑，雖然剛倒一筐土，只要堅持下去，平地就填出來了。〞

【English Translation】

Confucius said: "Just like the building of a mound, if I choose to stop before the last basket of earth has been poured, the job will never be complete. And just like levelling the ground, even if only one bucketful of earth has been poured in initially, I will progress because I choose to go ahead. "

【原文】

子曰：〝苗而不秀者有矣夫！秀而不實者有矣夫！〞

【參考譯文】

孔子說：〝有的人就像一些莊稼苗一樣，雖發牙卻不揚花，有的雖揚花卻不結實。〞

【English Translation】

Confucius said: "Some seedlings spring up but never flower while others flower but do not bear fruit. "

      Note: These images allude to the problem of giving up halfway.

【原文】

子曰：〝後生可畏，焉知來者之不如今也？四十、五十而無聞焉，斯亦不足畏也已。〞

【參考譯文】

孔子說：〝年輕人是大有作為的，誰能斷定他們將來不如我們這一代呢？如果一個人到了四、五十歲還沒有名聲，也就不會有什麼作為了。〞

【English Translation】

Confucius said: "Young people are full of potential. Who can predict if they will not surpass our generation? But if by the age of 40 or 50, a person does not establish a name for himself, he will never do so. "