When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.
XUNZIWhen you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state.
More Xunzi Quotes
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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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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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Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing.
XUNZI -
If the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.
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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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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
XUNZI -
Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
XUNZI -
When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state.
XUNZI -
Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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 -
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