In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men’s nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.
XUNZIHuman 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.
More Xunzi Quotes
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Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.
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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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Therefore, a person should first be changed by a teacher’s instructions, and guided by principles of ritual. Only then can he observe the rules of courtesy and humility, obey the conventions and rules of society, and achieve order.
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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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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?
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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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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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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same; conversely the petty man is loathed all the same.
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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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Misery is evil; quarreling, a misfortune. There is only one possibility of avoiding both: a clear division of society. [Otherwise] the strong tyrannize the weak, the intelligent frighten the stupid, the inferior resist the superior, and the young mock the old.
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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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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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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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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
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The petty man is eager to make boasts, yet desires that others should believe in him. He enthusiastically engages in deception, yet wants others to have affection for him. He conducts himself like an animal, yet wants others to think well of him.
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The nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
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They are done merely for ornament. … the common people regard them as supernatural.
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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing.
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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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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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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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The noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.
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The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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