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.
XUNZIHuman nature is what Heaven supplies.
More Xunzi Quotes
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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
XUNZI -
You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
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 -
I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.
XUNZI -
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 -
The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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 -
The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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 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 -
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 -
Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
XUNZI -
If the quickness of the mind and the fluency of the tongue are too punctilious and sharp, moderate them in your activity and rest.
XUNZI