孔子曰：“禄之去公室五世矣，政逮于大夫四世矣，故夫三桓之子孙微矣。”

Confucius said, "The ducal house of Lu has lost power for five generations, and government has been in the hands of the ministers for four generations. No wonder the descendants of the three Lu families are fast losing their power." 

孔子曰：“益者三友，损者三友。友直、友谅、友多闻，益矣；友便辟、友善柔、友便佞，损矣。”

Three kinds of friend will do you good, said Confucius, and other three will do you harm. To make friends with the upright, the faithful and the well-informed will do you good; to make friends with the prejudicial, the insidious and the hypocritical will do you harm.

孔子曰：“益者三乐，损者三乐。乐节礼乐、乐道人之善、乐多贤友，益矣；乐骄乐、乐佚游、乐宴乐，损矣。”

Three delightful things, said Confucius, will do you good: delight in ritual and music, in speaking well of others and in making good friends. Three pleasures will do you harm: extravagant pleasure, lascivious pleasure and sumptuous pleasure.

孔子曰：“侍于君子有三愆：言未及之而言谓之躁，言及之而不言谓之隐，未见颜色而言谓之瞽。”

In the presence of a cultured man, said Confucius, three mistakes should be avoided: to speak before called on to speak is rash; not to speak when called on to is unfrank; to speak without observing the expression of his face is blind.

孔子曰：“君子有三戒：少之时，血气未定，戒之在色；及其壮也，血气方刚，戒之在斗；及其老也，血气既衰，戒之在得。”

A cultured man, said Confucius, should beware of three things. He should beware of lust in youth when his vigor is uncouth, of strife in his prime when he is full of vigor, and of greed in old age when his vigor is on the decline.

孔子曰：“生而知之者上也，学而知之者次也；困而学之又其次也。困而不学，民斯为下矣。”

Highest are those born wise, said Confucius, next come those who become wise by learning, still next those who strive to learn, and last come those people who will not strive at all.

孔子曰：“君子有九思：视思明，听思聪，色思温，貌思恭，言思忠，事思敬，疑思问，忿思难，见得思义。”

An intelligentleman, said Confucius, should be considerate in nine respects: he should see clearly, hear distinctly, look mild, appear respectful, speak sincerely, act carefully, ask questions when in doubt, think of the consequences when in anger, and bear in mind what is right in sight of gain.

来源：翻译大王