1. Laozi said
The greatest good is like water, which benefits all things without dispute.
Being a human being should be like water. Water nourishes all things, but never competes with all things. This kind of character is closest to the Tao.
The tree that hugs each other is born from the smallest grain of wood; the nine-story platform is born from tired soil. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
The big trees that hug each other grow from tiny seedlings; the nine-story high platform is built from every pile of soil; the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
2. Zhuangzi said
Everyone knows what is useful, but no one knows what is useless.
People all know the uses of usefulness, but they don’t understand the greater use of uselessness.
Don’t forget the beginning, don’t seek the end; enjoy it after receiving it, forget it and return to it, this is what we mean by not using your heart to contribute to the Tao, and not using people to help heaven. This is what is called a real person.
Don’t forget the origin of your life and don’t seek your own destination. Accepting the life given by nature and being content with it, forgetting the changes of life and death and returning to nature. This is called not harming the way of nature with desire, and not using human power to assist the destiny of heaven. This is a real person.
3. Confucius said
A gentleman is magnanimous, but a villain is always concerned.
A gentleman is broad-minded and tolerant of others; a villain is petty and narrow-minded.
Gentlemen are harmonious but different; villains are harmonious but not harmonious.
A gentleman can maintain a harmonious and harmonious relationship with the people around him, but he must deal with everything through independent thinking of his own brain, and is never willing to follow others' opinions and blindly agree; but a villain has no independence of his own. He only seeks to be completely consistent with others in his opinions and does not pay attention to principles, but he cannot maintain harmonious and friendly relationships with others.
4. Mencius said
If you are poor, you can only benefit yourself; if you are rich, you can help the world.
When you don’t have your ambition, you should clean yourself up and cultivate your personal moral character. When you have your ambition, you can make the world do the same.
The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the people.
The season and climate that are conducive to combat are not as important as the terrain that is conducive to combat (important), and the terrain that is conducive to combat is not as important as the will of the people and the unity of the top and bottom (important).
5. Mozi said
A gentleman does not mirror water, but mirrors people. If you look in the mirror at water, you will see the face; if you look in the mirror at a person, you will know the bad and good fortune.
A gentleman does not use water as a mirror, but people as a mirror. Use water as a mirror to see your own appearance, and use a person as a mirror to know good or bad luck.
The country of a thousand chariots is taken lightly, but the faith of one word is valued.
A gentleman values ??the integrity of his words more than a country with a thousand chariots.
6. , those who benefit first and then righteousness will be disgraced.
Those who consider morality first and then interests will be honored; those who consider interests first and then morality will be shamed.
The movement of heaven is constant. It will not exist for Yao, nor will it perish for Jie.
The operation of nature has its own laws, which will not be changed by Yao’s sage or Jie’s tyranny.
7. Sun Tzu said
If you know yourself and the enemy, you will not be in danger in a hundred battles; if you do not know the enemy but know yourself, you will win and lose once; if you do not know the enemy and yourself, you will be in danger in every battle.
If you know the enemy and yourself, there will be no danger in every battle; if you don’t know the opponent but know yourself, you have a half chance of winning or losing; if you don’t know the opponent nor yourself, you will lose in every battle. .
The first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, and the third is to attack the city.
The best military action is to use strategy to defeat the enemy's strategic intentions or war actions, the second is to defeat the enemy through diplomacy, the third is to defeat the enemy's army by force, and the last is to attack the enemy's city.
8. Liezi said
If the shape is wrong, the shadow will be curved; if the shape is straight, the shadow will be straight.
When the shape of an object is crooked, its shadow will be curved; if the body is straight, the shadow will also be straight.
Those who gain the time will prosper, and those who lose the time will perish.
Those who follow the times will prosper, and those who go against the times will perish.
9. Han Feizi said
A embankment of a thousand feet will be destroyed by the holes of ants; a room of a hundred feet will be burned by the smoke of the gaps.
A thousand-mile embankment may collapse due to ants digging holes; a hundred-foot-tall building may be burned down due to fire caused by sparks emerging from the gaps in the chimney.
Confucianism disrupts the law with literature, and chivalry violates prohibitions with force.
Literati always rely on their pens to disrupt the legal system, while knights always use violence to violate the law.
10. Qu Yuan said
The whole world is turbid and I am alone pure; everyone is drunk and I am alone sober.
The world is all turbid, but I am clear and transparent (not to be confused with others). The world is all intoxicated, but I am sober, so I am exiled.
The road is long and long, and I will search up and down.
In the pursuit of truth, the road ahead is still long, but I will persevere and spare no effort to pursue and explore.