Xun Kuang

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.

The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one's inner power.

Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing.

Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same; conversely the petty man is loathed all the same.

I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.

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.

When you locate good in yourself, approve of it with determination. When you locate evil in yourself, despise it as something detestable.

In order to properly understand the big picture, everyone should fear becoming mentally clouded and obsessed with one small section of truth.

Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.

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?

A person is born with desires of the eyes and ears, and a liking for beautiful sights and sounds. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to immorality and lack of restriction, and any ritual principles and propriety will be abandoned.

I say that human nature is the original beginning and the raw material, and deliberate effort is what makes it patterned, ordered, and exalted.

If the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony.

If the quickness of the mind and the fluency of the tongue are too punctilious and sharp, moderate them in your activity and rest.

If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.

There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.

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.

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.

Human nature is what Heaven supplies.

Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.

Human nature and deliberate effort must unite, and then the reputation of the sage and the work of unifying all under Heaven are thereupon brought to completion.

In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men's nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.

The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.

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.

When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.