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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. "

" Those whose character is mean and vicious will rouse others to animosity against them. "

" Sacrifices are concerned with the feelings of devotion and longing. "

" 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. "

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

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

" 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. "

" A person is born with a liking for profit. "

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

" If there were no human nature, then there would be nothing for deliberate effort to be applied to. If there were no deliberate effort, then human nature would not be able to beautify itself. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Music is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion. "

" 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. "

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

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

" Pride and excess bring disaster for man. "

" If the impulse to daring and bravery is too fierce and violent, stay it with guidance and instruction. "

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

" Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity. "

" 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. "

" 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? "

" 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. "

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

Straightforward

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

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "