Xun Zi Quotes

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

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

When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state. - Xun Zi

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

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. - Xun Zi

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. - Xun Zi

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. - Xun Zi

Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them. - Xun Zi

Therefore, a person should first be changed by a teacher's instructions, and guided by principles of ritual. Only then can he observe the rules of courtesy and humility, obey the conventions and rules of society, and achieve order. - Xun Zi

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

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