When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.
XunziRead
In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men's nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that historical rulers were aware of the inherent flaws in human nature and the need for governance to manage them.
Xunzi's quote reflects the philosophical perspective that human beings are born with negative tendencies, such as selfishness and disorder. It emphasizes the importance of wise leadership and laws in shaping and correcting these tendencies to ensure a just and orderly society, highlighting the role of governance throughout history in managing human behavior.
In practice
During a lecture on ethics, one might use this quote to discuss the nature of human behavior and the role of authority.
When people lack teachers, their tendencies are not corrected; when they do not have ritual and moral principles, then their lawlessness is not controlled.
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 what the heart approves conforms to proper patterns, then even if one's desires are many, what harm would they be to good order?
A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned.
If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others.
Human nature is such that people are born with a love of profit If they follow these inclinations, they will struggle and snatch from each other, and inclinations to defer or yield will die.
all I wanted to do was sneak out into the night and disappear somewhere, and go and find out what everybody was doing all over the country.
Now the standard cure for one who is sunk is to consider those in actual destitution or physical suffering—this is an all-weather beatitude for gloom in general and fairly salutary day-time advice for everyone. But at three o’clock in the morning, a forgotten package has the same tragic importance as a death sentence, and the cure doesn’t work—and in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.
One's own self or material goods, which has more worth?_x000D_ _x000D_ Loss (of self) or possession (of goods), which is the greater evil?_x000D_ _x000D_ He who loves most, spends most,_x000D_ _x000D_ He who hoards much loses much
The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure, while always arriving.
The mind, placed before any kind of difficulty, can find an ideal outlet in the absurd. Accommodation to the absurd readmits adults to the mysterious realm inhabited by children.
He who despises himself esteems himself as a self-despiser.
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