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Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously.
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It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family.
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When I walk along with two others, from at least one I will be able to learn.
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Learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of missing it.
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You can cheat an honest man but not make a fool out of him.
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What is most needed for learning is a humble mind.
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What you dislike in your superiors, avoid doing to your inferiors. What you dislike in your inferiors, avoid doing when working for your superiors. What you hate in those who are in front of you, do not do to those behind you.
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We are so busy doing the urgent that we don't have time to do the important.
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The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?
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Study the past if you want to define the future.
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It is better to light one small candle of gratitude than to curse the darkness.
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The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does.
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Never tire to study. And to teach to others.
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If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.
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The superior man is slow in his words and earnest in his conduct.
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Who contains himself goes seldom wrong.
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When you are laboring for others, let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.
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By the ruler's cultivation of his own character there is set up the example of the course which all should pursue.
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When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.
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Excess and deficiency are equally at fault.
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A man who reviews the old so as to find out the new is qualified to teach others.
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The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.
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A man without a mustache is a man without a soul.
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If I hold up one corner of a square and the student cannot workout the other three for himself, I won't go any further.