There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
XUNZIThus, 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.
More Xunzi Quotes
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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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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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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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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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Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing.
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If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.
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The nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
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If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
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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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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 rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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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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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.
XUNZI