Believing that to govern a country well you would have to depend on some people, Wei Wenhou asked Gu Juanzi, "Can I depend on my father, son, brother, and liegemen, who all have virtues and talents?"

Gu Juanzi gave him a negative answer and explained one by one, "Yao was noted for being a good father. But his son was exiled. Shun was noted for being a filial son, but his father Gu Shou could not tell evil from kind, and his younger brother was arrogant. Zhou Gong was a sage, but his elder brother was ordered to be executed by him. Shang Tang and Zhou Wuwang were able liegemen, but they overthrew their monarchs Xia Jie and Shang Zhou respectively. Those who depend on others can never achieve his goal and will not pervade long. If a monarch wants to govern his country well, he has to depend on himself."

魏文侯认为治理国家必须依靠一些人，便问孤卷子：“是否可以信赖有德有才的父亲、儿子、哥哥、弟弟、臣下？”

孤卷子一一给予否决并解释说：“尧是有名的闲父，可他的儿子丹珠却遭到流放，舜是有名的孝子，但他的父亲瞽膄却分不清善恶，他的弟弟也特别傲慢；周公是贤人，然而他的哥哥管叔却被他处死；商汤和周武王都属于能臣，他们的君主夏桀和商纣却被他们打翻。把希望寄托在别人身上的人绝不可能实现自己的目的，依赖别人的人也长久不了。君主要想治好国家，只能靠自己。”