17.16 子曰：“古者民有三疾，今也或是之亡也。古之狂也肆，今之狂也荡；古之矜也廉1，今之矜也忿戾；古之愚也直，今之愚也诈而已矣。”
【译文】
孔子说：“古代人有三种毛病，现在或许没有那个样子的毛病了。古代的狂人肆志直言，现在的狂人荡无所据；古代矜持的人锐不可近，现在矜持的人怒而好争；古代的愚人遂性直行，现在的愚人则是挟私欺诈罢了。”
【YZG解释】
孔子说：“古代人有三种毛病，现在或许变得更糟糕了。古代的狂人（志向过高而好高骛远的人），不拘小节、肆志直言，现在的狂人放荡无忌、为所欲为；古代矜持的人棱角分明、难以接近，现在矜持的人易怒而充满暴戾之气；古代的愚钝之人任性率直，现在所谓的愚钝之人则是表面装傻以达到欺诈的目的。”
【English Translation】
Confucius said: “There were three faults of the ancients, and perhaps they have become even worse now. The ancient madmen (those with lofty aspirations and high ambitions) did not care about minor details and spoke recklessly, now the madmen are unrestrained and do whatever they want. The ancient reserved people were too harsh to approach, now the reserved people are irritable with full of violent tempers. The ancient fool people were straightforward and willful, and now the so-called fool people pretend to be foolish for the purpose of deception.”
注释
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廉：棱角。比喻人方正峭厉，难以接近。 ↩