You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
XUNZIThe nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
More Xunzi Quotes
-
-
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 -
The nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
XUNZI -
Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
XUNZI -
When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.
XUNZI -
Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
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 -
If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
XUNZI -
If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction.
XUNZI -
They are done merely for ornament. … the common people regard them as supernatural.
XUNZI -
The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
XUNZI -
Music is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion.
XUNZI -
Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them.
XUNZI -
Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same; conversely the petty man is loathed all the same.
XUNZI -
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 -
The noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.
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 -
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.
XUNZI -
If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.
XUNZI -
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.
XUNZI -
The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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 -
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.
XUNZI -
One must remember equality, yet also be aware of difference, for if the people are allowed to act as it pleases them without coming up against displeasure, if one gives rein to its desires without setting [any] limit, it becomes confused and can no longer take delight in anything.
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 -
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.
XUNZI