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If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction.

Xunzi

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Xunzi
Violent
Stay
Daring
Bravery
Fierce
Instruction
Guidance
Impulse

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The rigid cause themselves to be broken the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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Man's nature is evil goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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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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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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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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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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Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.
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Quarreling over food and drink, having neither scruples nor shame, not knowing right from wrong, not trying to avoid death or injury, not fearful of greater strength or of greater numbers, greedily aware only of food and drink - such is the bravery of the dog and boar.
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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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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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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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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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The noble person uses things the lesser man is used by things.
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The petty man is eager to make boasts, yet desires that others should believe in him. He enthusiastically engages in deception, yet wants others to have affection for him. He conducts himself like an animal, yet wants others to think well of him.
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They are done merely for ornament. ... the common people regard them as supernatural.
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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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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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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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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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