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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
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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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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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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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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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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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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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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Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.
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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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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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Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing.
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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 noble person uses things the lesser man is used by things.
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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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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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I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.
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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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Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
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