The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress.

Is there any one maxim which ought to be acted upon throughout one's whole life? Surely the maxim of loving kindness is such: Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you.

When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.

Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way.

If what one has to say is not better than silence, then one should keep silent.

He who rules by moral force is like the pole star, which remains in place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.

The end of the day is near when small men make long shadows.