Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
XUNZIYou look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
More Xunzi Quotes
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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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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.
XUNZI -
The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
XUNZI -
There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
XUNZI -
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
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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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 blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.
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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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Thus, anybody who follows this nature and gives way its states will be led into quarrels and conflicts, and go against the conventions and rules of society, and will end up a criminal.
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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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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.
XUNZI