If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
XUNZIYou look upon the seasons with expectation and await them: wy not seize the seasonal opportunities and exploit them?
More Xunzi Quotes
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They are done merely for ornament. … the common people regard them as supernatural.
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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.
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In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men’s nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.
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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 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.
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The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one’s inner power.
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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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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.
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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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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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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.
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If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.
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If the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.
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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.
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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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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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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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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.
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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
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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