Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously

When the perfect order prevails, the world is like a home shared by all. Leaders are capable and virtuous. Everyone loves and respects their own parents and children as well as the parents and children of others. The old are cared for, adults have jobs, children are nourished and educated. There is a means of support for all those who are disabled or find themselves alone in the world. Everyone has an appropriate role to play in the family and society. Devotion to public duty leaves no place for idleness. Scheming for ill gain is unknown. Sharing displaces selfishness and materialism.

The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.

It is better to light one small candle of gratitude than to curse the darkness.

Not knowing life, how can we know death? Why talk of spirits when you do not understand men?

Rotten wood cannot be carved.

There is good government when those who are near are made happy, and when those who are afar are attracted.