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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.
Xunzi
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More quotes by Xunzi
The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one's inner power.
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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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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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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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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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Man's nature is evil goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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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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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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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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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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The nature of man is evil what is good in him is artificial.
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The rigid cause themselves to be broken the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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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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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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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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I once tried standing up on my toes to see far out in the distance, but I found that I could see much farther by climbing to a high place.
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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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When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state.
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