Confucius said, "A gentleman benefits without pain, works without complaint, desires without greed, is Thai without arrogance, and is mighty without fierceness." ("The Analects of Confucius Yao Yue")

It means that a gentleman benefits the government and the people, and does not waste people and money; Let people do things without being resented; Desire, but not greed; Calm, but not arrogant; Majestic, but not fierce.

This is what I said when I answered Zhang's political question.

As the five virtues of gentleman's rule, "benefit without waste" emphasizes the idea of benefiting the people without wasting money; "Working without regrets" means working reasonably for the people; "Thai but not arrogant" is a humble attitude towards the people; "Wei is not fierce" means that although he has a majestic image, he can live in harmony with the people.

Let's focus on "no greed".

Confucius explained this sentence like this: "How can you be greedy if you want benevolence and get benevolence?" It means that those in power who pursue benevolence will get benevolence, and there is nothing to be greedy for!

Confucius' thought of benevolence includes two levels: for people, it is about loving others and benefiting things; For yourself, it is to be selfish and cautious. On the basis of benevolence (human), there will be a realm of loving him and being altruistic. How can he take the property of the country or others as his own to satisfy his own desires?

Everyone has desires, including Confucius. The key is "desire without greed".

A patriotic man caught a mullet, so big that it was all over the car. Confucius' grandson Zisi asked, "mullet is hard to catch. How did you catch it? " The man said, "when I started to decouple, I used a small fish as bait." I didn't even look when the mullet passed by. " When I came back, I changed half a little suckling pig as bait, and the squid took the bait. "

Zisi sighed with emotion: "mullet is not easy to catch, but it died because it was greedy for bait;" Although the Confucians ruled the Tao with their hearts, they died because of their lust for Lu! " (Kong Kangzhi)

When Zisi arrived in the State of Qi, the King of Qi said to Zisi, "Now the princes are in a melee, and there is chaos in the world. There is no overlord, and the State of Qi is powerful and has a large population. I want to dominate. What do you think? " Zi Si said, "No, because you can't get rid of your greed for benefits." Qi Jun said, "What are the disadvantages of greed?" Zi Si said, "Water is clear and sediment makes it turbid, while human nature is comfortable and lust makes it disordered. Therefore, people who can own the world must not be people who try to own the world; People who can get a good reputation must not seek fame. If you understand this truth, you can abandon your greed. " In other words, it is possible to own the world without greed.

In Confucianism's view, political success depends on winning the hearts and minds of the people. Those who win the hearts of the people win the world, but those who are unpopular are hard to protect, let alone the world. Confucius chose five virtues for politics, and "desire without greed" is the most straightforward. Politicians can "benefit without consuming", "work without complaining", "be arrogant" and "powerful without being fierce", and their kung fu lies in "desire without greed". Politics is a public welfare undertaking, only those who are not greedy can serve the public, only those who are not greedy can win the hearts of the people, and only those who are not greedy can bring peace!