If the quickness of the mind and the fluency of the tongue are too punctilious and sharp, moderate them in your activity and rest.

Since the nature of people is bad, to become corrected they must be taught by teachers and to be orderly they must acquire ritual and moral principles.

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.

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

Therefore, a person should first be changed by a teacher's instructions, and guided by principles of ritual. Only then can he observe the rules of courtesy and humility, obey the conventions and rules of society, and achieve order.

When a man sees something desirable, he must reflect on the fact that with time it could come to involve what is detestable. When he sees something that is beneficial, he should reflect that sooner or later it, too, could come to involve harm.

If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.