“When we see a person of worth, we should think of equalling them; when we see the contrary, we should examine ourselves within.” The sentence appears in the Li Ren chapter of the Analects, where it stands without a surrounding dialogue. “Worth” points to a person or conduct worthy of emulation, while “equalling” means aspiring to reach the same standard. Seeing poor conduct should prompt us to ask whether its fault is also present in ourselves.
The line makes other people into two kinds of mirror. Good conduct calls for more than praise, and bad conduct calls for more than accusation. If a colleague checks facts carefully, we can ask whether we show the same responsibility; when someone evades responsibility, we can also inspect our own habits. Yet self-examination does not excuse the other person's conduct or absorb every external responsibility. It simply requires criticism to submit to the same scrutiny it directs outwards.
https://ctext.org/analects/li-ren/ens
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