Self-improvement is something about which one must be careful.
If desires are extravagant, conduct will be deficient. If slander
is indulged in, perfection will be impaired. Trouble is born from
anger, and disaster arises from trifles. Shame and disgrace are
hard to wash away; defeat and loss cannot be again made good.
If you do not think deeply and do not exercise far-sighted care,
what good will remorse be? Hoping for good luck is the axe that
cuts down a man's nature; desire is the horse that gallops after
disaster; boasting is the path that leads to disaster; slandering
others is the dwelling place of poverty. For this reason the superior
man expels false hopes of good luck,[2]
regulates his desires, and
devotes himself to being sincere and trustworthy. He does not
slander anyone, and so his name is venerated and he is called a
superior man.
The Ode says,[3]
Why do they rest without stirring?
It must be they expect allies.