From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides.

All men are born good.

When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?

Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.

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

He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.

Those who break down the dikes will themselves be drowned in the inundation.