问：「先儒曰：『圣人之道，必降而自卑。贤人之言，则引而自高。』如何？」
先生曰：「不然。如此却乃伪也。圣人如天，无往而非天，三光之上，天也，九地之下亦天也，天何尝有降而自卑？此所谓『大而化之』也。贤人如山岳，守其高而已。然百仞者不能引而为千仞，千仞者不能引而为万仞。是贤人未尝引而自高也，引而自高则伪矣。」
有人问：「先儒说：『圣人之道，必降而自卑；贤人之言，则引而自高。』如何？」
先生说：「不对。这样便是虚伪。圣人如同天，无论到哪里都是天，日月星之上是天，九地之下也是天，天何尝降而自卑？这就是所谓『大而化之』。贤人如同山岳，只是守住他的高度罢了。然而百仞的山不能拔高为千仞，千仞的不能拔高为万仞。可见贤人也从没有引而自高，引而自高就是虚伪了。」
Someone asked: 'Earlier scholars said: the way of the sage stoops down to humility; the words of the worthy pull themselves up to height. What of it?'
The Master said: 'Not so — that would be pretense. The sage is like Heaven: everywhere is Heaven — above the three lights, below the nine depths; when did Heaven ever stoop? This is greatness transformed. The worthy are like mountains, simply keeping their height; yet a hundred fathoms cannot be stretched to a thousand, nor a thousand to ten thousand. So the worthy never pulled themselves up; to pull oneself up is pretense.'