Not being properly valued and not holding a grudge—doesn’t that elevate the soul?
When meeting a worthy person, think about how to become like them. When meeting a lowly person, examine yourself and judge yourself.
Do not worry about not holding a high rank. Worry about whether you deserve to hold a high rank. Do not worry about not being known. Worry about whether you deserve to be known.
In ancient times, people did not like to talk much. They considered it shameful to fail to live up to their own words.
When outside your home, behave as though you are receiving honored guests. In dealings with others, behave as though you are performing a solemn ritual.
A noble man endures adversity with grace, while a lowly person falls apart in times of trouble.
Be strict with yourself and gentle with others. This way, you will shield yourself from people’s disdain.
A noble man knows of his superiority, but avoids competition.
It is most difficult to build proper relationships with women and lowly people. If you draw them close, they become unruly; if you distance yourself, they begin to hate you.
Archery teaches us how to seek truth. When an archer misses, he does not blame others but looks for the fault in himself.
He who cannot guide his own family toward goodness cannot learn himself.
A noble man waits with dignity for the decrees of heaven, while a lowly person anxiously waits for luck.
People seek wealth and fame for themselves. If these cannot be gained honestly, they should be avoided. People fear poverty and obscurity. If these cannot be avoided without compromising honor, they must be accepted.
A noble man lives in harmony with all, while a lowly person seeks others like himself.
Be fluid like water, calm like a mirror, responsive like an echo, and serene like silence.
Do not rush toward the approaching or chase after the departing; live in harmony with the original source of Heaven and Earth, in which there is neither past nor present.
Ordinary people see what is manifest but cannot notice the hidden. Worthy people see the hidden but cannot trust in change. The wise trust in change to remain unchanging.
He who seeks the near will not see the distant. He who listens to whispers will not hear the thunder. The wise sees nothing and thus sees everything. He listens to nothing and thus hears everything.
A good merchant hides his wealth and appears poor.
When pure gold is enveloped in fire, it shines even brighter.
The ducks embroidered on a carpet can be shown to others, but the needle that stitched them has disappeared without a trace.
In the midst of white clouds, white clouds are not visible. In the murmuring of a stream, one cannot hear the stream’s murmur.
Blindness is clarity of sight, deafness is sensitivity of hearing, danger is calmness, and luck is misfortune.
One arrow brings down one eagle. Two arrows are already too much.
He who keeps his thoughts pure must refrain from indulging in sweet morsels.
Leave three times as much for your friends as for yourself. For yourself, keep even a small grain of the original purity of the heart.
When receiving, do not take more than your share. In good deeds, do not do less than what is available to you.
The pure always emerges from the impure, the light is born from the darkness.
It is only when you detach from the temptation of what you anticipate in your imagination that your thoughts become unshakable and your actions flawless.
He who seeks to be known as selfless does so out of greed.
When one commits evil and fears that others will know, they may still find a way toward goodness. When one performs good deeds and strives for others to know, they create evil.
Learn to find joy in life—this is the best way to attract happiness.
If you have never been ill in your life, that is a misfortune.
It is better to protect what you have already achieved than to dream about what has yet to come. It is better to prevent a future mistake than to regret a past wrong.
Only when you find joy in sorrow will you understand what the heart lives on.
Judge a person by how they end their days.
If I do not praise beauty, who can attribute ugliness to me?
Remove what pollutes the heart, and it will become pure.
Mistakes made by others should be forgiven, but one should not forgive their own mistakes. One can endure their own losses, but cannot bear to witness the losses of others.