Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same; conversely the petty man is loathed all the same.

Quarreling over food and drink, having neither scruples nor shame, not knowing right from wrong, not trying to avoid death or injury, not fearful of greater strength or of greater numbers, greedily aware only of food and drink - such is the bravery of the dog and boar.

There are successful scholars, public-spirited scholars, upright scholars, cautious scholars, and those who are merely petty men.

Misery is evil; quarreling, a misfortune. There is only one possibility of avoiding both: a clear division of society. [Otherwise] the strong tyrannize the weak, the intelligent frighten the stupid, the inferior resist the superior, and the young mock the old.

Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.

If you wish to see the thousand years, look at today; if you wish to understand the millionfold, then look at the one or the two.

In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men's nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.