Just as lavishness leads easily to presumption, so does frugality to meanness. But meanness is a far less serious fault than presumption.

The object of the superior man is truth.

Study as if you have not reached your goal - hold it as if you were afraid of losing what you have.

Have no friends not equal to yourself.

Expect much from yourself and little from others and you will avoid incurring resentments

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.

To study and constantly, is this not a pleasure? To have friends come from far away places, is this not a joy? If people do not recognize your worth, but this does not worry you, are you not a true gentleman?