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

Xunzi

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Xunzi
Broken
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Rigid
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If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
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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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Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing.
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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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Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.
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The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one's inner power.
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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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Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same conversely the petty man is loathed all the same.
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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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The nature of man is evil what is good in him is artificial.
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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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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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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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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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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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The noble person uses things the lesser man is used by things.
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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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Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
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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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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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