If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
XUNZIIf there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
More Xunzi Quotes
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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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They are done merely for ornament. … the common people regard them as supernatural.
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If what the heart approves conforms to proper patterns, then even if one’s desires are many, what harm would they be to good order?
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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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If the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.
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You look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
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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.
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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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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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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.
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Music is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion.
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Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.
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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.
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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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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.
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If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction.
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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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The noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.
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The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one’s inner power.
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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.
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I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.
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The nature of man is evil; what is good in him is artificial.
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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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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.
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