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.
XUNZINow 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.
More Xunzi Quotes
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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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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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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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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 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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When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state.
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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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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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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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The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one’s inner power.
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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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Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice.
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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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The noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.
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Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them.
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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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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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The nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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If the quickness of the mind and the fluency of the tongue are too punctilious and sharp, moderate them in your activity and rest.
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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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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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If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
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You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
XUNZI