The first fruit of this imagination—and the first lesson of the social science that embodies it—is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances.

每个人都幻想将来会更好，而不是更糟。

子张问：“什么是五种美德？”孔子说：“君子对人民施加恩惠，却不耗费财用；使百姓劳苦，百姓却无怨言；自己有所欲求却不贪婪；安宁矜持却不骄横；威严却不凶猛。”……子张又说：“什么是四种恶行？”孔子说：“事先不经教育，犯了罪就杀头叫做肆虐；不先告诫便要求有成效，这叫粗暴；发布命令迟缓，却突然限期完成，这叫残害人；同是给人赏赐，却出手吝啬，这叫只进不出的财务衙门。