A disciple of Confucius said to him, " To be poor and yet not to be servile; to be rich and yet not to be pround,what do you say to that?"
"It is good," replied Confucius, "but better still it is to be poor and yet contented; to be rich and yet know how to be courteous."
"I understand,"answered the disciple:
"We must cut,we must file,
Must chisel and must grind."
"That is what you mean,is it not?"
"My friend," replied Confucius, "now I can begin to speak of poetry to you. I see you understand how to apply the moral."
中文：子贡曰：“贫而无谄，富而无骄。何如？” 子曰：“可也。未若贫而乐，富而好礼者也。” 子贡曰：“《诗》云，'如切如磋，如琢如磨。' 其斯之谓与？” 子曰：“赐也，始可与言《诗》已矣！告诸往而知来者。”。”
注释：孔子的一位学生问他：“贫穷但并不奴颜婢膝，富有但并不妄自尊大，您认为怎么样？”
“这很好，”孔子回答说，“但比之更好的，是贫穷但知足安乐，富有但恭敬有礼。”
“我懂了，”那位学生回答说：
我们必须切而又切，磋而又磋，又须凿刻碾磨。
“这就是您的意思，不是吗？”
“我的朋友，”孔子回答说，“现在，我可以开始给你谈论诗了。我想你已懂得了如何去致力于道德修养。”
