A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned.
XUNZIIf the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.
More Xunzi Quotes
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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 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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I once tried standing up on my toes to see far out in the distance, but I found that I could see much farther by climbing to a high place.
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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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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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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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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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You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
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Thus, that one can find no place to walk through the breadth of the earth is not because the earth is not tranquil but because the danger to every step of the traveler lies generally with words.
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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 noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.
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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






