The gap between enthusiasm and indifference is filled with failures. The great man is he that does not lose his child's heart.

The way is near, but men seek it afar. It is in easy things, but men seek for it in difficult things.

When the men of antiquity realized their wishes, benefits were conferred by them on the people. If they did not realize their wishes, they cultivated their personal character, and became illustrious in the world. If poor, they attended to their own virtue in solitude; if advanced to dignity, they made the whole empire virtuous as well.

The root of the kingdom is in the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head.

A small country cannot contend with a great; the few cannot contend with the many; the weak cannot contend with the strong

Water indeed will flow indifferently to the east or west, but will it flow indifferently up or down? The tendency of our nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. There are none but have this tendency to good, just as all water flows downward.

Heaven sees as the people see. Heaven hears as the people hear.