In the Book of Poetry there are three hundred poems, but the meaning of all of them may be put in a single sentence: Have no debasing thoughts.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

To know that one knows what one knows, and to know that one doesn't know what one doesn't know, there lies true wisdom.

To understand yourself is the key to wisdom.

A gentleman does not promote a man on account of what he says; nor does he reject sayings, because the speaker is what he is.

Clever talk can confound the workings of virtue, just as small impatiences can confound great projects.

Excessive (population) growth may reduce output per worker, repress levels of living for the masses and engender strife