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.
XUNZIMusic is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion.
More Xunzi Quotes
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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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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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Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.
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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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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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The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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Men of all social stations live together: they are equal in their desires, yet vary in their methods; they are equal in their passions, yet different in their intelligence; that is their nature-given vitality.
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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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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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The noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.
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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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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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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 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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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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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.
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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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I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.
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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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They are done merely for ornament. … the common people regard them as supernatural.
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Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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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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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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Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them.
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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.
XUNZI