If a man has no humaneness what can his propriety be like? If a man has no humaneness what can his happiness be like?

A country of a thousand war-chariots cannot be administered unless the ruler attends strictly to business, punctually observes his promises, is economical in expenditure, loves the people, and uses the labor of the peasantry only at the proper times of year.

To take what you know for what you know, and what you do not know for what you do not know, that is knowledge indeed.

If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?

Not to converse with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To converse with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words.

When you breathe, you inspire, and when you do not breathe, you expire.

The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.