陳元方年十一時，候袁公。袁公問曰：“賢家君在太丘，遠近稱之，何所履行？”元方曰：“老父在太丘，強者綏之以德，弱者撫之以仁，恣其所安，久而益敬。”袁公曰：“孤往者嘗為鄴令，正行此事。不知卿家君法孤，孤法卿父？”元方曰：“周公、孔子異世而出，周鏇動靜，萬里如一。周公不師孔子，孔子亦不師周公。”       

Chen Yuanfang once paid an audience to Sir Yuan Shao when he was eleven years old. Yuan inquired about his father, "Your father is serving Taiqiu and gaining wide appraisal. What has he done in his job?" Chen replied, "In Taiqiu, my father appeased the strong with virtue, the weak with benevolence. People pay respect to him because he lets them live with peace of mind." Yuan said, "I used to be the magistrate of Ye and did the same thing as your father is doing. I wonder whether he copied that from me, or the other way round?" Chen replied, " Ji Dan and Confucius are the sages of different eras. Their thoughts and deeds are quite the same. Ji Dan did not copy Confucius, nor the other way round."