Xunzi Quotes

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

Man's nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity.

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

If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.

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.

Pride and excess bring disaster for man.

The noble person uses things; the lesser man is used by things.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

The rigid cause themselves to be broken; the pliable cause themselves to be bound.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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