If you love men and they are unfriendly, look into your love; if you rule men and they are unruly, look into your wisdom; if you are courteous to them and they do not respond, look into your courtesy. If what you do is vain, always seek within.

Only those who develop their minds and spirits to the utmost can serve Heaven and fulfill their own destinies.

The great person never loses a childlike spirit.

Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.

Virtue alone is not sufficient for the exercise of government; laws alone cannot carry themselves into practice.

The way is One and only One. The way is close at hand, but men seek it afar.

When I say that all men have the mind which cannot bear to see the suffering of others, my meaning is illustrated this way: when two men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they all have a feeling of alarm and distress, not to gain friendship with the child's parents, nor to seek the praise of their neighbors and friends. From such a case, we see that a man without the feeling of commiseration is not a man. The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity.