Virtue is not solitary; it is bound to have neighbors

Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.

The gentleman is calm and at ease. The gentleman is dignified but not proud; the small man is proud but not dignified.

A happy union with wife and child is like the music of lutes and harps.

When a man comes to me, I accept him at his best, not at his worst. Why make so much ado? When a man washes his hands before paying a visit, and you receive him in that clean state, you do not thereby stand surety for his always having been clean in the past.

Do not treat others as you yourself would not be treated.

The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right.