Someone said, ‘Repay an injury with a good turn. What do you think of this saying?’ The Master said, ‘What, then, do you repay a good turn with? You repay an injury with straightness, but you repay a good turn with a good turn.’ (XIV.34) Here Confucius is criticizing the existing precept ‘Repay an injury with a good turn’ for being over-generous, leaving nothing with which to repay a good turn. It is enough, in Confucius’ view, that we should not be motivated by vindictiveness. What Confucius is advocating is the middle way between vindictiveness and excessive generosity.
