If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction.
XUNZII once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.
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.
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.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
If the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.
XUNZI -
Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them.
XUNZI -
Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.
XUNZI -
If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
XUNZI -
Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI