Sima Niu sighed, “Others have brothers, but I have none.” Zixia said to him, “I have heard that life and death are predestined and that wealth and rank are predetermined by heaven. A man of virtue always does things conscientiously without making any mistakes and treats people respectfully and appropriately. Then people all across the land will be his brothers. Such a man thus needs not to worry about having no brothers.” (The Analects)