The Master said, I set my heart on the Way, base myself on virtue, lean upon benevolence for support and take my recreation in the arts.

Riches and honor are what everyone desires, but if they can be gained only by doing evil, they must not be held. Don't worry about not being in office, worry about qualifying yourself for office. Don't worry that no one knows you, but seek to be worthy of being known.

The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.

Slater soaks into the mind as water into low and marshy places, where it becomes stagnant and offensive.

Sincerity is the way of heaven.

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.

A gentleman considers what is right; the vulgar consider what will pay.