With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of all these things.

One who is by nature daring and is suffering from poverty will not long be law-abiding. Indeed, any men, save those that are truly good, if their sufferings are very great, will be likely to rebel.

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

When things are investigated, then true knowledge is achieved; when true knowledge is achieved, then the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, then the heart is set right ; when the heart is set right, then the personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, then the family life is regulated; when the family life is regulated, then the national life is orderly; and when the national life is orderly, then there is peace in this world.

Even in killing men, observe the rules of propriety.

The strongest memory is not as strong as the weakest ink.

At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right.