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The nature of man is evil what is good in him is artificial.

Xunzi

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Xunzi
Men
Artificial
Evil
Nature
Good

More quotes by Xunzi

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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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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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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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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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Music is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion.
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One must remember equality, yet also be aware of difference, for if the people are allowed to act as it pleases them without coming up against displeasure, if one gives rein to its desires without setting [any] limit, it becomes confused and can no longer take delight in anything.
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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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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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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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Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
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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, 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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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 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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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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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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Man's nature is evil goodness is the result of conscious activity.
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If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction.
Xunzi