A blemish may be removed from a diamond by careful polishing, but evil words once spoken cannot be effaced.

The superior man does what is proper to the station in which he is; he does not desire to go beyond this.

The superior man honors his virtuous nature, and maintains constant inquiry and study, seeking to carry it out to its breadth and greatness, so as to omit none of the more exquisite and minute points which it embraces, and to raise it to its greatest height and brilliancy.

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.

It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.

The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.

He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligent indeed.