Xunzi Quotes
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The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
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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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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.
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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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The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one's inner power.
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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.
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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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They are done merely for ornament. ... the common people regard them as supernatural.
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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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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
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Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
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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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There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.
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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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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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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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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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The drum is surely the lord of music, is it not?
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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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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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The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.
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If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
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Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.
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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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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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If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.
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Human nature is what Heaven supplies.
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