Analects 1:14

Confucius said, “The superior man does not seek fulfillment of his appetite nor comfort in his lodging.  He is diligent in his duties and careful in his speech.  He associates with men of moral principles and thereby realizes himself.  Such a person may be said to love learning.”  [Analects 1:14]

Today, I will try to interpret the above analect.

In this analect, Confucius reveals an attitude in which an ordinary man may apply to be a superior man. This attitude is that a superior man do not find satisfaction with what the world offers. Confucius is trying to teach that a superior man does not seek comfort with the material things. A superior man always thinks of something higher and valuable than that of what can be found in the material world. For a superior man, what is important is the realization of the self. When one got to know the self, then that is the person's real happiness, his real satisfaction. The person gets the satisfaction through joining other people who has the same goal (be a superior man) as the person has. But the person must be watchful because the people in which he is associating might not be with the same goal as he has. The man must know that being a superior man is thinking or acting based on the moral principles. The man must not be easily fooled by the words that the other people says and the names they claim to be.

The process of associating the self to other morally principled people is said, according to Confucius, to be a man who loves learning. This maybe because the person accepted that he does not know everything that is why he is willing to learn from others. He knows that he cannot solely rely on his experiences in teaching him how to become a superior man. The man acknowledges that he is not a perfect person that is why he is constantly learning and is constantly in need of learning.