Human nature is such that people are born with a love of profit If they follow these inclinations, they will struggle and snatch from each other, and inclinations to defer or yield will die.
XUNZISacrifice is a state of mind in which our thoughts turn with longing [toward Heaven, the Ancestors], It is the supreme expression of loyalty, love, and respect.
More Xunzi Quotes
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They are done merely for ornament. … the common people regard them as supernatural.
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If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction.
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If you wish to see the thousand years, look at today; if you wish to understand the millionfold, then look at the one or the two.
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The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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Music is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion.
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I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.
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You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
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Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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Quarreling over food and drink, having neither scruples nor shame, not knowing right from wrong, not trying to avoid death or injury, not fearful of greater strength or of greater numbers, greedily aware only of food and drink – such is the bravery of the dog and boar.
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In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men’s nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.
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The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one’s inner power.
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Since the nature of people is bad, to become corrected they must be taught by teachers and to be orderly they must acquire ritual and moral principles.
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Now it is human nature to want to eat to ones fill when hungry, to want to warm up when cold, to want to rest when tired. These all are a part of people’s emotional nature.
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The nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
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Sacrifice is a state of mind in which our thoughts turn with longing [toward Heaven, the Ancestors], It is the supreme expression of loyalty, love, and respect.
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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
XUNZI -
Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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When a man sees something desirable, he must reflect on the fact that with time it could come to involve what is detestable. When he sees something that is beneficial, he should reflect that sooner or later it, too, could come to involve harm.
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When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.
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If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.
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Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.
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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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If what the heart approves conforms to proper patterns, then even if one’s desires are many, what harm would they be to good order?
XUNZI