In a well-governed country, speak boldly and act boldly. In a country where lawlessness prevails, let your actions be bold but your speech tactful.
It is harder to be poor without murmuring, than to be rich without arrogance.
The men of olden times who studied virtue had only their own improvement in view; those who study it now have an eye to the applause of others.
Refusal to instruct one who is competent to learn entails the waste of a man. Instruction of one who is incompetent to learn entails waste of words. The wise man is he who wastes neither men nor words.
Those whose care extends not far ahead will find their troubles near at hand.
He who requires much from himself and little from others will be secure from hatred.
If a man is not in the habit of asking, "What do you make of this? what do you make of that?" I can make nothing of him.
Hopeless indeed is the case of those who can herd together all day long without once letting their conversation reach a higher plane,[18] but are content to bandy smart and shallow wit.
When a man is generally detested, or when he is generally beloved, closer examination is necessary.[19]