“If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.”

I once tried standing up on my toes to see far out in the distance, but I found that I could see much farther by climbing to a high place.

The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.

There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

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.

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.

When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.

Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity.

Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.

The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?

The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.

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.

Human nature is what Heaven supplies.

The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one’s inner power.

If the quickness of the mind and the fluency of the tongue are too punctilious and sharp, moderate them in your activity and rest.

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.

It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent.

Think of yourself as a role model for others-showing that you can be kind, generous, loving, and rich!

But the Princeton fellowship was somewhat more generous, since I had not actually won the Putnam competition… Thus Princeton became the choice for my graduate study location.

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.

The strangest, most generous, and proudest of all virtues is true courage.

Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.

Though nature be ever so generous, yet can she not make a hero alone. Fortune must contribute her part too; and till both concur, the work cannot be perfected.

The generosity of my kindness is something that I love about myself.