“With coarse grain to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow: I still have joy in the midst of these things”

“Coarse rice to eat, water to drink, my bended arm for a pillow - therein is happiness. Wealth and rank attained through immoral means are nothing but drifting clouds.”

“The Master said, “What a worthy man was Yan Hui! Living in a narrow alley, subsisting upon meager bits of rice and water—other people could not have borne such hardship, and yet it never spoiled Hui’s joy. What a worthy man was Hui!”(Analects 6.11)”

“When the wind blows,the grass bends.”

“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”

“No lake so still but it has its wave.No circle so perfect but that it has its blur.I would change things for you if I could; As I can't you must take them as they are.”

“The Master said, “Wealth and honor are things that all people desire, and yet unless they are acquired in the proper way I will not abide them. Poverty and disgrace are things that all people hate, and yet unless they are avoided in the proper way I will not despise them. “If the gentleman abandons ren, how can he be worthy of that name? The gentleman does not violate ren even for the amount of time required to eat a meal. Even in times of urgency or distress, he does not depart from it.”(Analects 4.5)”