君子居於是國，不崇仁義，不尊賢臣，未必亡也。
然一旦有非常之變，車馳人走，指而禍至，乃始乾喉燋脣，仰天而歎，庶幾焉天其救之，不亦難乎？
A tree whose roots are not deep will not necessarily topple over, but, if a wind starts to blow and a storm arrives, it will be the first to be uprooted.
孔子曰：「不慎其前而悔其後，雖悔無及矣。
If a man of quality living in a particular state does not revere goodness and propriety and does not respect worthy officers, he will not necessarily perish, but, if a great disturbance should arrive such that horses gallop and people flee and, if disaster descends before he can crook a finger and he does not until that moment begin to call upon Heaven for succor with dry throat and parched tongue, would not this be a difficult case?
」詩云：「啜其泣矣，何嗟及矣。
」言不先正本而成憂於末也。
Kongzi said, “If you are not careful at the beginning and repent later on, you may indeed repent, but it will be too late.” As is said in the Odes, “Brokenly she weeps, / But what does it avail?” This refers to one who failed to make her foundation secure at the outset and so fell prey to anxiety in the end.