| Befriending the Learned:...: |
If (to the contrary) the subordinates should value their positions and keep silence, the ministers near at hand would be speechless and those far away could only sigh, and the people would become bitter. When the ruler is surrounded with praises and flatteries and insulated against good counsels, then the country is in danger. Was it not because they would not employ the scholars, that Jie and Zhou lost their empire and their lives? Thus it is said : To offer the greatest treasure of the country to the ruler is not as laudable as to recommend the virtuous and introduce the learned. |
